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COFiKIGHT DEPOSIT. 



OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

THEIR TEACHERS, PUPILS, AND PATRONS 



OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



THEIR TEACHERS,PUP1LS, AND PATRONS 



BY 



OSCAR T. CORSON, LL.D. 

FORMERLY STATE COMMISSIONER OF 
COMMON SCHOOLS FOR OHIO 




'M 



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W7 




AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 

BOSTON ATLANTA 






Copyright, 1918, by Oscar T. Corson 
Copyright, 1920, by American Book Company 



CORSON S OUR public SCHOOLS 



MAK -6 1920 



'WO I 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

I. Purpose and Importance of Our School System 9 
II. Improvement of the Schools .... 20 

THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

III. Natural Characteristics 37 

IV. Acquired Abilities 52 

THE TEACHER'S GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

V. The Teachers' Reading Circle . . .71 

VI. Teachers' Institutes 85 

VII. Physical Vitality and Mental Growth . . 97 
VIII. A Surplus of Heart Power . . . . m 

THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

IX. Encouragement for Teachers . . . .121 
X. Relation of Superintendent to Teachers . 138 

SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

XL The Power of Sentiment 159 

XII. School Sentiment and Regular Attendance . 167 

XIII. School Sentiment and Good Behavior . .180 

XIV. School Sentiment and Diligent Effort . -193 
XV. Influence of Moral Sentiment . . . 204 



COOPERATION 

XVI. Teachers and Pupils .... 
XVII. Mutual Aid and Common Aims . 
XVIII. The Help of the Home 
XIX. Cooperation of Teachers and Patrons 
XX. Parents and the School 

5 



219 

233 
248 

259 
271 



OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 



THE PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE OF OUR 
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

THE free Public School System of the United States 
represents the Nation's most serious attempt to 
make valid the fundamental statement in the Dec- 
laration of Independence that all men are created equal 
and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable 
rights which include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
ness ; for the public school is the one place in all the world 
where there is guaranteed absolute equality of educational 
opportunity to all, where wealth and ancestry, in and of 
themselves, count for nothing, and where brains and char- 
acter and industry are certain to win the recognition they 
merit. 

The chief purpose of the school. — In the pubhc school 
the rights of the children are sacredly safeguarded ; their 
physical, mental, and moral life carefully conserved ; and 
their liberties made possible and permanent by a training 
which teaches them to recognize and obey wholesome au- 
thority, kindly but firmly exercised, and to respect the rights 
of others — a training which is absolutely essential to any 
one who is ever either to pursue or to possess happiness. 

The importance of an institution can be measured by 
the demands made upon it by its friends, who give to it 
their cordial support. By this standard the public school 
must be recognized as a large factor in the life of the people. 

9 



lO OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

Each year brings with it new demands upon the school. 
A few decades ago, its course of study was brief and simple, 
including Httle more than the '' Three R's." To day, a 
multiphcity of subjects are found in the curriculum, and 
the teacher of a public school is expected to be well in- 
formed on all of them. 

The school curriculum. — The growth of the public 
school curriculum furnishes a most interesting study. To 
the critics who censure teachers for what is deemed an 
overcrowded condition of this curriculum, it can be truth- 
fully said that the teachers are not responsible for it. 
Few, if any, instances can be cited of the addition of a 
needless study, at the request or suggestion of a teacher. 
Many causes have contributed to the growth and en- 
largement of the course of study, the chief cause being 
an actual need in the life of the people for such growth 
and enlargement. 

As our nation grew in population and expanded in terri- 
tory, and as our trade with other countries developed, 
there arose a natural demand for Geography and it was 
added as an important study. History followed, because 
of a well-founded belief that in such a government as ours 
it is very necessary for the youth of the nation to have an 
intelligent idea of its founding, development, and purpose. 
Drawing was added soon after the Paris Exposition, held 
in 1867, largely as the result of a petition by manufacturers 
who had observed in this exposition that America's exhibit 
was not up to the standard of other nations in artistic 
products. Later on, under the leadership of the Women's 
Christian Temperance Union, legislation was enacted in 
practically all the states of the Union requiring the public 



PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE II 

school to teach Physiology and Hygiene with special refer- 
ence to the effects of alcohol and narcotics on the human 
system. Some of us, whose musical education has been 
neglected, are without training in this important branch, 
because in our youth the " singing school " of the neigh- 
borhood had ceased to be, and the public school had not 
yet taken up this branch which is now considered an essen- 
tial in the course of study in all efhcient schools. Within 
the memory of many is the time when cooking and sewing 
were taught in almost every household. Now many 
homes, either because of indifference to the importance 
of such training, or on account of the outside demands 
made upon the time and energies of the mother, give little 
or no attention to these essential household arts, and the 
school is therefore required to teach Domestic Economy 
and Home Making. Not long ago, local blacksmith shops, 
wagon-maker shops, carpenter shops, and other similar 
institutions furnished the opportunity for boys to learn 
trades. Now since such shops no longer exist, the school 
is called upon to provide manual training in its various 
forms, industrial training, and vocational training. 

The demands herein enumerated, all of which are reason- 
able, will serve to illustrate how rapidly the requirements 
made upon the pubKc school have been increasing. It is 
evident that whenever anything which needs to be well 
done, ceases to be done by the home or by other private 
agency, the pubhc school is expected to take up the work. 
Such demands and expectations on the part of the friends 
of the public school are highly comphmentary to its ef- 
ficiency and mark it as a most important institution in 
our national life. 



12 OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

Destructive criticism. — The importance of an institu- 
tion can also be measured by the destructive criticism 
directed against it by those who, for any reason, are un- 
friendly to it. Judged by this standard, the pubhc school 
must again be recognized as a most important factor in the 
life of to-day. 

Some of this destructive criticism comes from a class of 
would-be aristocrats who are not in sympathy with the 
'' common school " because they are not in sympathy with 
the common people. By such critics education is con- 
sidered a luxury which should be possessed only by the 
select few composed of the rich, the powerful, and the 
influential. To their narrow vision, education is really 
needful or beneficial only to the clergy or other members 
of the so-called learned professions. In their opinion, to 
attempt to educate '' all the children of all the people" 
is wrong in principle and harmful in practice. 

Another class of destructive critics is composed of persons 
found in various walks of life, who have an unnatural crav- 
ing for pubhc notice. Since they lack the ability to furnish 
any evidence of original thought or constructive criticism 
and the industry to secure recognition by any service of 
real merit, their only hope of gaining the notoriety which 
they so constantly seek, is found in making some sensa- 
tional statement which will secure for them prominent 
mention in the headlines of a sensational paper or the 
applause of an audience of unthinking people with itching 
ears for some new and strange doctrine, however false it 
may be. A consuming passion for such notoriety on the 
part of such critics is the only possible explanation for 
their extremely radical and equally false statements re- 



PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE 1 3 

garding the work of the pubUc school. It is a matter of 
sincere regret that this class includes a few professors in 
colleges, universities, and training schools for teachers, 
who seem to be more anxious to be classed as " advanced 
thinkers " or " original investigators" than they are to 
be honest observers of what really exists. 

Criticism of this type is usually harmless and sometimes 
amusing, when presented for the consideration of persons 
who are intelligently informed as to what is really being 
accomplished in a modern public school. But in many 
instances harmful results come from such criticism, because 
uninformed people are often inclined to take it seriously 
on account of the natural, though incorrect, assumption 
that important educational positions in the higher educa- 
tional institutions are always filled with intelligent and 
sensible occupants who are competent to criticize and 
honest enough to refrain from criticism when they are 
ignorant of conditions. 

The most caustic type of destructive criticism to which 
the public school is subjected, finds expression in the 
columns of a few newspapers and magazines. While some 
of this criticism is, no doubt, due to ignorance, there is 
good reason to believe that much of it is published with a 
full knowledge that it is unfair and unjust. It is not un- 
reasonable to presume that its publication is persisted in 
because of a belief that it will create a sensation and re- 
sult in increased revenues to the publisher. 

Critics and faultfinders. — Ignorance is the primary 
source of most of the destructive criticism of the work of 
the public school, and ignorance is always harsh in its 
judgments and dogmatic in its demands. In many in- 



14 OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

stances, ignorance condemns what it merely presumes is 
taking place in the schools, when an attempt to discover 
the truth would certainly reveal the fact that the alleged 
objectionable feature, thus ignorantly criticized, has not 
had an existence for many years. 

Ignorance declares that the public schools are destructive 
of individuality. The truth is that the pubHc schools fur- 
nish the best opportunity in the world for the cultivation 
of all that is best, as well as the elimination of much that 
is worst, in individuahty. Each year of our educational 
progress shows a marked advancement in the improvement 
of methods of teaching and of discipUne. 

Ignorance publishes the statement that only an insig- 
nificant percentage of boys and girls ever attend the high 
school and that the small number in attendance is rapidly 
decreasing. The simplest computation in percentage, per- 
fectly plain to any one whose stupidity is not abnormal, 
and equally convincing to all whose dishonesty is not in- 
curable, proves the absolute falsity of the first part of this 
statement. Crowded high schools in township, village, 
town, and city and the inability of school authorities to 
plan and erect new buildings fast enough to meet the ever 
increasing demands of a phenomenally rapid increase of 
high school attendance, certainly furnish abundant proof of 
the falsity of the inexcusable misrepresentation persisted 
in by those who even pretend to beheve the second part of 
the statement. 

Morality in the public schools. — Ignorance charges that 
the public schools are immoral and that the children who 
attend them are in constant danger of moral contamination. 
To this charge, the personal experience of millions of men 



PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE 1 5 

and women, educated in the public schools, enters a most 
emphatic denial and protest. They recall with pleasure 
and gratitude the many influences for right living and 
against wrong doing, which the pubHc school constantly 
exercises. 

The most potent of all these influences is the per- 
sonal influence of the teacher. All certificates granted 
to teachers in the public schools certify to good moral 
character as well as to academic and professional quali- 
fications. Immorality on the part of teachers is as ex- 
ceptional as immorality on the part of ministers, and 
creates as much surprise and arouses as great indignation. 
It is impossible to estimate the value of the personal in- 
fluence of a good teacher in the lives of boys and girls ; and 
there are few, if any of us, who are not ready to acknowl- 
edge the debt of gratitude we owe to the influence of the 
public school teacher in the formation of character. 

In the daily work of the classroom, the highest ideals of 
truthfulness, honesty, obedience, industry, promptness, and 
other virtues are constantly inculcated, and in the games 
of the playground the great lessons of fairness, justice, self- 
control, and respect for the rights of others are learned as 
in no other experience. It is in the public school that 
many a strong-willed, high-tempered, hot-blooded little 
aristocrat, who imagines that he is monarch of all he sur- 
veys, learns his first lesson in the morals which are funda- 
mental in the life of a true democracy. Fortunate, indeed, 
will it be for both his future welfare and that of the state, 
if he takes the lesson kindly and prepares himself for future 
leadership by present obedience and the development of a 
spirit of unselfish service for others. Equally unfortunate 



1 6 OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

may it be, should his parents transfer him from the pubHc 
school to some private school under the false impression 
that morals are taught in the latter and are neglected in 
the former. As a rule no great change for the better in 
the moral life of the young will be effected by sending 
them to private schools or academies. In the majority 
of instances the moral atmosphere of such schools is no 
better than that of the public schools and in some instances 
it is not nearly so good. 

An important lesson of the war. — The World War has 
taught some important lessons which should be given 
careful consideration by all who are interested in the 
education of the children and youth of our country. One 
of the most important of these lessons seems to be entirely 
ignored by the destructive critics of our public school 
system, whose chief characteristic is their determination 
not to give any consideration to facts which are at variance 
with their hastily formed opinions or preconceived notions. 
It is quite natural that such critics should disregard the 
proof, furnished by the war, that practically all their 
destructive criticism, so persistently made before the war, 
was without foundation. How often they declared that 
the public school system was utterly failing in the accom- 
plishment of its purpose ; that it had become so " femi- 
nized " that the boys were growing up without manly 
characteristics or power of initiative to help themselves, 
without courage or ability to do hard things ; and worst 
of all — something which they do not now like to have 
recalled, that the only hope for the American public school 
system w^as to " Prussianize " it in order to make it efhcient. 

To all such criticism, the record of the American soldiers 



PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE 1 7 

has furnished a most convincing and conclusive answer. 
Nearly all of them received their elementary education in 
the public school. The majority of them were without 
any additional training. Some of them went directly 
from school to the cantonments for a few weeks or months, 
and then to the battle front. All of them, with the true 
ideals of democracy taught and practiced in the pubhc 
school, obediently answered the call of their country and 
of oppressed humanity across the sea, and enlisted to fight 
the most perfect military machine the world has ever 
known. At the Marne, Chateau-Thierry, the Argonne 
Forest, Sedan, and many other places, now sacred to the 
memory of all who love freedom and hate tyranny, they 
met the picked troops of the German army, stopped their 
cruel onslaught on civihzation, and completely routed 
them. By the victories won, they settled for all time 
that the much-boasted efficiency of the German soldiers, 
educated in the much-praised German schools, and trained 
in the world-renowned German military camps, was no 
match for the spirit of the American soldiers, the product 
of the American public school system, with only a brief 
military training. The whole world, including conceited 
Germany and the destructive critics of American educa- 
tion, now knows that American soldiers possess manly 
characteristics, power of initiative to help themselves, 
and a dauntless courage rarely, if ever, equaled in the 
history of warfare. 

It would be gross injustice to the teachers of America to 
fail to recognize this lesson which the world war has so 
conclusively taught ; or to withhold from them the credit 
whicli is their due, and which should be gratefully given 

OUR PUB. S. 2 



1 8 OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

not only as a matter of fairness to them, but also in order 
that they may thereby be encouraged to continue their 
work with even greater devotion and success than ever 
before. 

Imperfections and deficiencies. — It must not be as- 
sumed that a defense of the public school and its teachers 
signifies a belief that perfection has been attained by either. 
It does mean, however, a well-founded and deeply grounded 
belief that the public school is one of the most important 
factors in both the individual and collective life of our 
Nation, and an abiding faith in the competency and effi- 
ciency of a large majority of its teachers. There has been 
and is now too much condemnation of schools by ignorant, 
prejudiced, destructive critics who are ever ready to tear 
down but who seldom are able to propose anything to take 
the place of what they condemn and attempt to destroy. 

The imperfections of the public school system and the 
deficiencies of public school teachers are well known to 
their friends. These friends, however, beheve that such 
imperfections and deficiencies can best be remedied by 
that kindly, considerate, and suggestively constructive 
criticism which constantly seeks for something worthy of 
commendation as a foundation on which to build, and 
then outlines in a definite manner both the characteristics 
of the proposed improvement and the process by which 
it is to be realized. Criticism of this nature is most wel- 
come and will always be gratefully received and promptly 
utilized by the teachers and friends of the public schools. 

The purpose of this book. — With an abiding con- 
fidence in the beneficent mission of the public school as 
an institution, along with a full recognition of its imper- 



PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE 1 9 

fections and deficiencies ; with an equally abiding faith 
in the growing efficiency of its teachers, together with an 
intimate personal knowledge of their readiness to admit 
their limitations and failures ; with a firm belief that 
commendation of existing good is always more helpful 
than wholesale denunciation of everything that has been 
done, because some things may not have been well done ; 
and with an earnest hope that something suggestively 
helpful may be found in this volume, it is presented for 
the kindly consideration of all teachers and friends of 
public education, who love the public school for what it 
has done and who are unitedly working to make its future 
more glorious than its past. 



rT7 



II 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SCHOOLS 

IHE destructive critic who finds no good in the 
pubHc schools as they now exist, usually insists 
that '' an educational revolution " is the only 
means by which they can be improved. To him there is 
nothing in their past history or present practice which is 
worth conserving or worthy of serious consideration. De- 
stroy everything in existence and start anew is his motto. 

Not revolution but evolution. — On the other hand, the 
constructive critic believes that what the public schools 
need to enable them to keep on improving as they have 
been doing in the past and as they are doing at present, 
is not '^ an educational revolution " but a continuation 
of the gradual but effective evolution which has been 
going on all through the years since their establishment. 
He would build for the future upon the good which the 
past has achieved and which the present reveals, using 
the lamp of experience to guide him on the pathway of 
future progress. An intelligent study of the history of 
the progress of pubHc education and a careful observation 
of current events and present tendencies in the educational 
world, plainly indicate that there are a number of important 
agencies constantly at work for the improvement of the 
public schools. 

School legislation. — One of these important agencies is 
legislation. Any one who is at all conversant with the 
history of school legislation in the different states of the 



20 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE SCHOOLS 21 

Union and who is well informed as to the more recent 
school laws enacted in many states, must be convinced that 
the public schools are gradually but surely growing in the 
public esteem as indicated by the increasingly favorable 
consideration accorded them by members of the legislature 
and other public officials. Practically all the recently 
enacted school laws indicate a serious purpose not only 
to eliminate the objectionable features and strengthen the 
weak points of previous laws, but also to provide for such 
additional aids in the improvement of the public schools 
as legislation can reasonably hope to furnish. 

Perhaps the most prominent features of all recent school 
legislation are the provisions which relate to teachers — 
their academic and professional preparation, certification, 
tenure of office, and salaries — and to a more definite and 
intelligent supervision of the work of the schools, especially 
in the rural districts. 

The general purpose of such legislation is most com- 
mendable. It is important, however, that in executing 
all laws, especially new ones, the spirit rather than the 
letter of the statute should govern. In no instance should 
the legal demand for a specified amount of academic and 
professional training be so enforced as to work an injury 
to experienced and effijcient teachers who may not be able 
to meet ail the requirements of the exact letter of the law 
relating to such formal training, but whose success in 
the actual work of the schoolroom, as measured by all 
reasonable tests, is unquestioned. 

It is not wise to assume that all teachers who have not 
been formally trained are necessarily failures, or that all 
who have had formal training, for either a minimum or 



22 OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

maximum period, are certain to succeed. Teachers can- 
not be labeled with a *' guarantee " under the provisions 
of a school law, as foods and drugs are under the food and 
drug act, with date and serial number attached. In mak- 
ing these comments, no reflection upon the right kind of 
professional training is intended. Such training is all 
important in its place, and a reasonable enforcement of 
the legal requirements that teachers make better prepara- 
tion for their work will certainly result in an improvement 
of the public schools. 

Examination and certification. — Closely related to the 
legal requirements for the better preparation of teachers 
for their work is the question of their proper certification. 
In recent years there has been a rapidly growing feeling 
that in connection with such certification, many abuses 
have grown up and great injustice has been done to some 
of the most earnest and progressive teachers. Many 
teachers have a conviction that they have been singled 
out and made the victims of what they term the ^' examina- 
tion grind." 

Their feeling is aptly illustrated by the well-known 
anecdote descriptive of the experience which came to a 
teacher in a dream. In this vision of the night, the teacher 
appeared before the pearly gates, hoping for entrance to 
the heavenly home for which she felt a life of faithful service 
had prepared her. With characteristic patience, she silently 
observed the methods of procedure pursued by others in 
securing recognition. First a minister of the gospel pre- 
sented his claims and was immediately and cordially in- 
vited to enter the door which opened wide to receive him. 
A physician then told of his great service to humanity in 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE SCHOOLS 23 

relieving pain and healing sickness, and was bidden to 
enter. A lawyer eloquently pleaded his own case, was 
given a merciful verdict, and secured admission. With 
modesty and timidity, the teacher then told of her work 
with the children in training their minds and molding 
their characters, and, in supplicating tones,' asked if she 
might come in. A brief conference followed, at the close 
of which she was informed that before entrance could be 
granted, she would have to pass a teachers^ examination. 

It is no doubt true that, in the past, teachers have been 
subjected to too many examinations of the technical type, 
which are narrowing to the vision and deadening to the 
growth of all true educators. School legislation, which 
purposes to remedy this wrong, is worthy of commenda- 
tion. There is danger, however, that the reform may go 
too far and that schools of real merit and teachers of 
genuine worth may suffer as a result. The primary pur- 
pose of requiring teachers of the public schools to secure 
certificates before entering upon the work of teaching is to 
protect the boys and girls who attend the schools from igno- 
rance, incompetence, and immorality. In thus protecting 
the children against inferiority, the more competent teachers 
also receive a benefit in being relieved from the harmful 
competition of a cheap class of teachers — a competition 
which would not only lower educational standards but also 
reduce salaries, since such teachers would willingly teach 
for less because they know their services are worth less. 
It is, therefore, perfectly evident that a careful test of 
qualifications for teachers is of primary importance to the 
welfare of not only all the pupils but also the best-trained 
and most competent teachers of the public schools. 



24 OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

It is certainly necessary that all who have not been 
specially trained for the work of teaching should be re- 
quired to pass a fair test of their knowledge of the subjects 
to be taught before being granted a certificate to teach, 
and there is no valid reason for exempting those who have 
been specially trained for the work from a similar test. 
There is always cause for suspecting the efficiency of the 
preparation of any one to do anything, when he constantly 
resorts to all kinds of subterfuges to avoid a reasonable 
test of the preparation which he claims to possess. The 
one important thing is that all tests be fair and that they 
be conducted by persons who are competent to judge of 
the qualifications of a teacher. 

Provisional and permanent certificates. — While it may 
be advisable, as a rule, to grant provisional certificates, 
vahd for a brief period, to specially trained teachers upon 
the recommendation of the authorities in charge of the 
schools in which the special training is received, yet it is 
not unreasonable to ask all such teachers to give evidence 
of their qualifications to teach by passing a reasonable 
examination conducted by the state superintendent of 
schools, a state board of education, or other agency repre- 
senting the state. Any institution whose work is well 
done should not and will not hesitate to have it fairly 
tested. 

To presume that an examination by an appointed agency 
of the state cannot or will not be conducted in such a man- 
ner as to give justice to all, is unreasonable. The state 
carefully examines all applicants for entrance into the legal 
and medical professions and thereby protects, in a measure 
at least, future clients and patients from the harmful results 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE SCHOOLS 25 

of ignorance and incompetence of lawyers and physicians. 
Most of the complaints of unfairness or injustice resulting 
from these examinations come from applicants who fail 
because of poor teaching or lack of application as students, 
or from institutions without the necessary equipment to 
do efficient work. It is true that there is always a possi- 
bility that an examining board may have in its membership 
representatives of incompetency and inefficiency, and that 
examinations conducted by such a board may be unfair 
and unreasonable in the tests submitted and unjust, per- 
haps occasionally even dishonest, in the certificates 
granted. It is, however, equally true that there is at 
least an equal possibility that the faculty of a training 
school for teachers may also have in its membership repre- 
sentatives of equal incompetence and inefficiency who may 
recommend for teachers' certificates those who are not at 
all qualified for the work of teaching. It can always be 
safely assumed that a large majority of the membership 
of both examining boards and training school faculties are 
competent, efficient, and honest. The best method of 
certificating teachers always recognizes the necessity of a 
friendly and sympathetic cooperation on the part of the 
representatives of both. A wise examiner of either pupils 
or teachers always gives due consideration to the work 
and recommendations of those who have prepared the 
applicants to be tested, and a successful teacher of either 
pupils or teachers always welcomes a fair test of the prod- 
uct of his teaching. 

While the certification of beginners to teach involves a 
number of difficulties and should have the serious con- 
sideration of all who are charged with the responsibility of 



26 OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

directing educational affairs, a much more difficult problem 
presents itself for solution in connection with the certifica- 
tion of teachers of experience. What poHcy should be 
pursued with reference to them? It is certainly unjust, 
unfair, and unreasonable to insist that really successful 
teachers should be subjected to repeated examinations in 
either the common or higher branches after they have 
given satisfactory evidence of a fairly broad and reasonably 
accurate knowledge of the subjects which they are required 
to teach. On the other hand there ought to be some method 
of eliminating the class of teachers whose increasing ex- 
perience brings with it a corresponding decrease of knowl- 
edge of all subjects and of power to teach any subject. It 
is unfortunately true that teachers of this class can usually 
secure from some official source the recommendations 
necessary to meet any formal requirement of the law which 
provides that temporary certificates shall be made perma- 
nent, after a certain specified period of successful teaching. 
To such teachers a permanent certificate is considered a 
warrant to cease all further study or thought of growth. 
Could permanent certificates, held by indifferent or self- 
satisfied teachers, who have no desire to add to their knowl- 
edge or to increase their teaching power, be revoked for 
indolence as well as for immorality, the best interests of 
the schools would thereby be conserved and the rights of 
deserving teachers protected. 

All teachers who are worthy of holding a permanent 
certificate are constantly alert to the importance of self- 
improvement and better preparation for their work. To 
them such a certificate is something more than an insurance 
policy to secure them against all possibility of a necessity 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE SCHOOLS 27 

for future effort of any kind. While it is a much-appreciated 
recognition of acquired knowledge and teaching skill, its 
greatest value is as an incentive to better scholarship and 
higher professional attainments. 

For the separation of experienced teachers into the two 
classes, — deserving and undeserving, for devising methods 
for a proper recognition of the former and the elimination 
of the latter, and for the impartial execution of methods 
so devised, — we must look to wise boards of education and 
courageous superintendents rather than to school legisla- 
tion. 

Tenure of office. — Closely related to the question of 
the certification of teachers are the questions of tenure of 
office and salaries, both of which have been the object of 
much recent school legislation. Laws relating to these 
important questions are necessarily largely limited to 
general provisions protecting worthy teachers in their 
rights and fixing a minimum compensation for their services. 
For a solution of these exceedingly important problems in 
detail, we must again look to competent boards of educa- 
tion advised by intelligent and sympathetic superintendents. 
The teacher's tenure of office should be made secure enough 
to encourage faithfulness and efficiency, but not so secure 
as to make possible permanency in spite of laziness, in- 
competency, and inefficiency. 

The teacher's reward. — While real teaching power can 
never be measured in terms of money and while the largest 
and best rewards for unselfish devotion to the work of 
teaching must always be of a spiritual rather than a ma- 
terial nature, it is nevertheless a necessity that better pay 
be provided for better teachers if the schools are to have a 



28 OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

large measure of improvement. It is futile to expect that 
laws requiring increasingly higher qualifications for teach- 
ers can ever produce the desired results unless at the same 
time there is guaranteed an increase in salaries at least 
commensurate with the required increase in qualifications. 
It is unreasonable to hope that enough teachers to supply 
the schools will feel themselves impelled to take up the 
hard work of teaching from an altruistic impulse alone. 
As long as the occupations of day laborers, carpenters, 
painters, plumbers, masons, street-car conductors, and 
others of a similar nature offer a much higher financial 
return for service much less exhausting to both body and 
mind than teaching, any law requiring superior quali- 
fications for teachers will be largely a dead letter. 

Supervision indispensable. — The value of intelligent 
supervision of schools has been so often and so completely 
demonstrated that no argument in its favor is any longer 
needed. Conditions naturally demand organization and 
system in towns and cities, and organization and system 
in turn naturally call for executive direction and control. 
Supervision has, therefore, been considered an essential 
factor in town and city school systems for many years. 
In the country opposite conditions prevail. As a result, 
the rural schools have not generally been closely organized 
or definitely supervised. 

In the majority of states county supervision has existed 
for a number of years and has proved its value in securing 
a better general organization of the schools, in arousing a 
deeper interest on the part of patrons, and in creating a 
stronger public sentiment in favor of higher standards of 
education. The greatest defect in such supervision is 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE SCHOOLS 29 

that, on account of the large extent of territory to be 
covered and the large number of schools to be supervised, 
the definite and repeated inspection of the work of in- 
dividual schools and teachers is not possible. Without 
such inspection, supervision can never be highly efficient. 
In a few states, supervision has been provided for smaller 
units than the county, such as the township or district. 
When such units have been able to provide sufficient 
financial support to insure a competent superintendent, 
the results have usually been eminently satisfactory. In 
a number of states, recently enacted school laws provide 
for a combination of county and district supervision. 
Under such laws, the county superintendent is the executive 
officer of the county board of education and has general 
oversight of the schools of the county. The assistant or 
district superintendents are sufficient in number to make 
possible repeated visits to each school and thereby insure 
an intimate personal knowledge of the work of each teacher. 
With such knowledge to direct, each superintendent is 
thereby enabled to advise and help teachers in such a 
sympathetic and intelligent manner as will insure better 
results. 

The method of electing superintendents, their formal 
qualifications, and, to a certain extent, their duties, can 
all be prescribed by the letter of the law. The enforce- 
ment of the spirit of the law, however, is made possible 
only by an enlightened pubhc sentiment which will not 
tolerate the use of the pubhc schools for selfish and pohtical 
purposes. One of the most gratifying indications of edu- 
cational progress at the present time is found in the grow- 
ing determination of all good citizens to divorce the manage- 



30 OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

ment of the public schools from partisan poHtics, and to 
unite in selecting the best men and women to direct the 
educational affairs of the community. After the people 
have selected capable representatives as members of the 
board of education and they in turn have selected a compe- 
tent superintendent and qualified teachers, the success of 
the administration will then depend almost wholly upon 
the character of the relation existing between the superin- 
tendent and teachers. If this relation is characterized by 
intelHgent sympathy, unswerving loyalty, and hearty co- 
operation, success is assured. So important is this rela- 
tion that a separate chapter will be devoted to its con- 
sideration. 

Courses of study. — A second important agency in the 
betterment of the public schools is the increasing attention 
given to the course of study with the purpose of adapting 
it more and more to the real needs of the present genera- 
tion. It is not surprising that there should be an honest 
difference of opinion among educators as to what these 
real needs are and, therefore, a lack of unanimity of view 
as to how they may best be met. 

In the past the theory of formal discipline has, no doubt, 
governed too largely the selection of studies and, as a re- 
sult, full justice has not been done to many of the pupils of 
the public schools. In some instances, at least, the dis- 
ciples of this theory, in their zeal to provide the discipHne 
which they consider a necessary preparation for life, have 
neglected the essential training which prepares for making 
a Hving. It is possible, however, that greater injustice 
might result should the opposite theory prevail and the 
public schools be wholly converted into centers for indus- 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE SCHOOLS 3 1 

trial training and vocational guidance. Between the two 
extremes can certainly be found the golden mean which 
gladly recognizes the value of any or all training which 
makes for discipline as a better preparation for life, or 
which furnishes greater skill in the manual and industrial 
arts as a better preparation for making a living. 

The cultural and the practical. — All attempts to separate 
the cultural and practical or to place them in antagonism 
are to be deprecated. Each has its place in a well-rounded 
system of education. In the reconstruction of our public 
school system to meet the varying needs of a changing civili- 
zation it is highly important that neither be sacrificed to 
the interests of the other. The need of well-trained work- 
men and workwomen cannot be gainsaid. But there is an 
equally imperative need that men and women who toil with 
their hands should have such a training of mind and heart 
as will enable them to find pleasure and profit in reading a 
good book, in viewing a fine picture, or in listening to choice 
music. Vocational guidance, properly given, is certainly 
commendable, but avocational guidance is equally necessary. 

Adaptation to the individual. — A third agency which 
indicates a determined effort to better public school condi- 
tions is found in the ever increasing consideration given to 
the individual needs and capacities of individual pupils. 
This is manifested in the ready adaptation of methods of 
discipHne and instruction to suit these varying needs and 
capacities, in more elastic systems of gradation and promo- 
tion, in the careful study which is made to determine the 
causes of retardation, with a view to reducing it to a mini- 
mum, and in the establishment of special schools for the 
special benefit of defective children. 



32 OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

The old claim of the critic of the pubhc schools that all 
the children are required to " lock-step " their way through 
the grades, without any consideration of their different 
abilities to progress, has never been well founded in fact; 
and, in view of all the means now used to furnish special 
help to the duller pupils and special opportunities for 
advancement to the brighter ones, such a claim has no 
validity whatever. 

Physical welfare of children. — The increased attention 
given to the physical welfare of the children and the en- 
larged provisions made for their physical training each 
year, constitute a fourth important agency in the better- 
ment of the public schools. Evidence of this is seen on 
every hand. Old buildings are remodeled and new ones 
erected with well-equipped gymnasiums and baths together 
with all the improvements in heating, Hghting, and ventila- 
tion, which modern science and architecture can suggest. 
Playgrounds amply equipped and well supervised are 
provided for the children, in many instances, especially 
in the large cities, at great expense. School physicians 
and nurses are at hand to administer to present needs, to 
point out any physical defects which interfere with either 
the mental or moral development of the child, and to 
guard against the spread of contagious diseases. Open- 
air schools are saving the lives of many children who 
would otherwise become the victims of tuberculosis. 

These enumerated evidences and many others of a simi- 
lar nature must convince all but the willfully ignorant 
and the hopelessly pessimistic that the public school is 
to-day perhaps the best medium of conveying to the 
public, and thus making generally effective, the latest 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE SCHOOLS 33 

and best discoveries relative to the prevention of sickness 
and disease. 

Important agencies of improvement. — Better school 
laws, better planned courses of study, more sympathetic 
consideration of the individual needs and capacities of the 
individual child, and greatly improved conditions and en- 
larged provisions for safeguarding the health of all children, 
have been presented as a few of the more important agencies 
in the improvement of the public schools. Important as 
these agencies are, they do not include the chief agency for 
such improvement. There is always danger that the one 
absolutely essential factor in the success of any school or 
system of education may be lost sight of in a complete 
absorption of attention to other factors, which, while es- 
sential as helps in securing desired results, should always 
be considered as secondary in importance. A concrete 
illustration may serve to make this plain. 

In the dining room of a hotel in an eastern city two men 
were taking lunch at the same table. One was a well- 
educated, keen-eyed traveling man who was successfully 
representing a large business house, as one of its salesmen. 
The other had devoted his life to public school work. The 
conversation finally turned to the subject of public educa- 
tion in which the traveling man manifested a deep interest. 
A number of school issues were discussed and finally the 
public school man was asked to name the city visited by 
him, which in his judgment had the best public school 
system. The answer was substantially as follows : 

" The city which has the best school system is always 
the city which employs and retains the largest possible 
number of first-class teachers." 

OUR PUB. S. 3 



34 OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 

A brief pause and a slight intimation of surprise mingled 
with disappointment on the part of the questioner at what 
seemed at first an indefinite answer to his inquiry, followed, 
and then his observation to the effect that he presumed the 
statement was true. 

That the statement is true, no one, who really compre- 
hends what constitutes a good school, has any doubt. 
''As is the teacher so is the school," a maxim as true as 
it is old, must ever be kept in mind by all who desire to 
improve our public school system. The real and final 
test of all school reforms including school legislation, re- 
organization of courses of study, systems of school super- 
vision, plans of promotion, methods of examination, studies 
of retardation, adjustment of salaries, tenure of office, and 
other agencies for the improvement of the public schools, 
is found in the effect that such reforms have upon the 
teachers who do the daily work of the schoolroom. If 
the effect is to inspire higher ideals of life and living, to 
develop a deeper devotion to duty, to arouse a larger 
sympathy for childhood, and to create new incentives to 
better work on the part of teachers, then it is certain that 
such reforms are worthy of confidence and support. The 
whole purpose of the public school should be to conserve 
the best interests of childhood. The prime essential in 
any school which meets this exalted purpose is a teacher 
dedicated in body, mind, and soui to the holy task of teach- 
ing. To such teachers, the different agencies discussed in 
this chapter will be welcomed as much needed and highly 
appreciated helps in improving the schools. Without such 
teachers, improvement is impossible. 



THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 



35 



Ill 

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS 

SINCE an efficient teacher is the one essential factor 
in making an efficient school and since schools 
improve in direct ratio to the improvement of 
teachers, it is highly important that those who aspire to 
teach should possess a large measure of both the natural 
characteristics and the acquired abihties necessary to 
insure success. 

While no individual is born with a full equipment of 
teaching power, it is nevertheless true that some individuals 
early in life give unmistakable evidence that they possess 
in an unusual degree the natural characteristics of success- 
ful teachers. Others give equally positive evidence of the 
entire absence of any adaptation for the work of teaching. 
Education and training of the right kind will greatly 
increase the teaching power of the former. With the 
proper academic and professional preparation, they are 
certain to become teachers whose presence in any school will 
insure success. No amount of education or training of any 
kind can ever make successful teachers out of the latter. 
Nature has plainly labeled them as unfit for the schoolroom. 

The teacher's attitude toward life. — To succeed in a 
large way, the teacher must have a right attitude toward 
life. This attitude must be one of sane optimism and 
good cheer, founded upon a well-grounded faith in humanity 

37 



SS THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

and in the ultimate triumph of right over wrong. He must 
believe with Browning that 

" God's in his heaven — 
All's right with the world ! " 

No taint of pessimism must be allowed to darken his 
soul or to blur his vision of life. The pessimist has been 
described as an egotist who thinks the sun sets every time 
he shuts his eyes. A Httle observation of living specimens 
unfortunately existing in most localities will confirm the 
truthfulness of the description. Pessimism is always a 
compound of self-conceit and selfishness, both of which are 
foreign to the spirit of a true teacher. 

The possession of a sane optimism and a spirit of good 
cheer does not signify that teachers are ignorant of existing 
evils or satisfied with all things as they are. It does 
signify, however, that they are not ignorant of the fact 
that the record of crime and sin and misery so prominently 
advertised in the daily press is not the rule, but the excep- 
tion, in human life; that they believe that the numerous 
but unrecorded deeds of kindness and the many earnest 
efforts to remove the causes of crime and sin and misery 
should also be taken into account in forming an estimate 
of moral conditions. They remember that whenever 
calamity or disaster of any kind comes to individuals or 
nations the latent goodness of the world always manifests 
itself in kindly sympathy and generous aid to the needy 
and suffering. This remembrance deepens their faith in 
humanity and confirms their belief that the world is growing 
better. Best of all, because it is the most encouraging of 
all, there is present in the consciousness of all true teachers 



NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS 39 

the thought that, in the proper training of the boys and 
girls intrusted to their care, there comes an unsurpassed 
opportunity to help in a most definite way in making a good 
world still better. 

This spirit of optimism, of faith in humanity, of a 
cheerful willingness to help in overcoming evil with good, 
and of a definite determination to consecrate time and 
talent to the work of teaching, is a sure indication of the 
teacher's right attitude toward life, and, therefore, a 
promise of success to all who possess it. 

Faith in childhood. — This is another essential of suc- 
cess, which must characterize all teachers who would 
win their way to the hearts of children. It is remarkable 
how accurately boys and girls measure this characteristic 
in a teacher and how readily they respond to either its 
presence or its absence. Words, or acts, which speak much 
louder than words, indicating a belief that boys and girls 
are all dishonest, untruthful, and untrustworthy, will 
produce an almost immediate determination on their part 
not to disappoint the teacher, by failing to measure up 
promptly and fully to his estimate of their characters. 
Many of us can recall instances in our own lives, as pupils, 
when our conduct certainly met the highest expectations 
of such a teacher. On the other hand when pupils are 
made to feel that the teacher has faith in them and that 
misbehavior on their part is both a surprise and a dis- 
appointment to him, the best that is in them responds to 
the confidence thus shown and good behavior naturally 
follows. All of us can remember teachers who led us to 
do right by a constant manifestation of their behef that we 
would not think of doing anything else. 



40 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

The oft-repeated charges that children are usually dis- 
honest, and always deceitful, and that they are common 
liars, are gross libels upon the truth, and unwarranted 
insults to childhood. Such insults can emanate only from 
confirmed pessimists who, perchance, judge all children by 
their own children and in so doing forget the influence of 
heredity, or from self-seeking sensationalists who are 
always ready and willing to sacrifice the truth for tem- 
porary notoriety. 

The fact is that children are usually too honest, too 
frank, and too truthful to conform to the conventionalities 
of society as recognized and followed by their seniors. It is 
well known, in all homes where there are children, that 
special coaching is often necessary to keep them from telling 
the whole truth about many things, at such times and un- 
der such circumstances as might render it exceedingly 
embarrassing. 

This faith in childhood does not assume that boys and 
girls are perfect, that they do not always need direction and, 
at times, correction. Neither does it presume that they 
should be permitted to do as they please or to govern 
themselves absolutely. The theory that a well-governed 
school is a wholly self-governed school will not always 
stand the test of experience. The claim of some teachers 
that their pupils are better behaved when they are absent 
from the room than when they are present, naturally 
arouses some doubt as to its validity, creates a desire for a 
full investigation, and prompts a question as to how well 
behaved the pupils may be when the teachers are present. 
Even with adults self-government presents many perplexing 
problems whose satisfactory solution requires an appli- 



NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS 4 1 

cation of all the wisdom of the past, together with an 
accurate knowledge of present conditions and needs. And 
it is not reasonable to ask or to expect children to assume 
all the responsibilities which come with self-government 
in school. They need and should have the directing 
influence and sympathetic help of cool-headed, warm- 
hearted teachers who will win their confidence by freely 
giving them their own. 

Such confidence in boys and girls is a necessary foundation 
on which to build a wholesome respect for them and a just 
recognition of their rights. Without such respect and 
recognition, it is impossible for any teacher to possess that 
genuine love for children which is essential to real success 
in the schoolroom. 

Loving the children. — All true teaching touches the heart 
and molds the life, as well as trains the intellect. Every 
true teacher must feel with Charles Dickens : 

"I love these little people, and it is not a slight thing when they, 
so fresh from God, love us." 

Such love for childhood never manifests itself in the 
form of a sickly sentimentality so nauseating to all normal 
children. Frequently the kindly word of appreciation 
should be spoken. Perhaps, even more frequently an 
approving smile or a little act of courtesy or kindness on 
the part of the teacher will prove to the children that they 
are, indeed, the objects of loving consideration. Occa- 
sionally a punishment for some wrong act may furnish 
the most convincing evidence of a love which is most 
genuine. The one fact never to be forgotten by teachers 
is that in the currency of love for childhood there can be 



42 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

no counterfeits, and that any attempt to deceive children 
by pretending to possess a love for them, which does not 
exist, is certain to meet with immediate detection. 

No finer delineation of this love, which should characterize 
the spirit of the true teacher, has ever been presented than 
that found in the thirteenth chapter of the Apostle Paul's 
First Epistle to the Corinthians. The following quotation 
from this remarkable chapter can well be made a part of 
the creed of every teacher: 

" Love suffereth long, and is kind ; love envieth not ; lovevaunteth 
not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh 
not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth 
not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all 
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 
Love never faileth." 

Because of their human limitations the best teachers 
sometimes fail. But the experience of all teachers who are 
really successful will bear testimony to the fact that the de- 
gree of success attained is largely commensurate with the 
genuineness of their love for the children whom they teach. 

Love for children founded upon faith in them, respect 
for their rights, and consideration for their feelings will 
never permit teachers to grow into habitual scolds. There 
can be no doubt that, with too many teachers, there is a 
tendency to become impatient, sarcastic, and peevish. 
Unless such tendency is carefully guarded against, a con- 
firmed habit of scolding will soon be formed and harmful 
results will certainly follow. The tongue has been well 
described as the only sharp-edged tool which grows sharper 
with constant use, and there are some teachers whose 



NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS 43 

tongues are so constantly sharpened with this constant use 
that they never lose an opportunity to exhibit their power 
to cut and wound the feelings of their pupils. Teachers 
who persist in speaking to their pupils in language which 
would not be tolerated in polite society should not be 
permitted in the classroom of any public school or college. 
All pupils and students have a right to courteous treatment, 
and none should be required to associate with discourteous 
teachers. 

The scolding habit. — This is as foolish as it is harmful. 
Such a habit is always the outgrowth of uncontrolled 
temper, and an exhibition of uncontrolled temper on the 
part of teachers is usually a source of great amusement 
to pupils. Many times in schools taught by such teachers, 
fun-loving pupils will take turns in making a disturbance 
in order to create a scene and thus have an opportunity to 
observe their teachers in action. 

The most harmful way, however, in which an ill-natured 
disposition can manifest itself is in the use of sarcasm. If 
its use served only " to tear the flesh like dogs," as the 
derivation of the word indicates, the wounds produced 
thereby might in time heal, leaving little or no mark ; 
but the hurt produced by sarcasm goes much deeper, 
piercing the very soul of the one who is the victim of its 
bite, and should the wound thus produced heal at all, a 
permanent scar is certain to remain. Many super- 
intendents are painfully aware of the serious difhculties 
which sometimes arise in the management of schools in 
connection with both children and their parents, because 
of the cutting remarks made by some sarcastic teacher 
whose tongue is, indeed, " an unruly evil, full of deadly 



44 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

poison." No occasion can arise in any school or classroom 
to justify the use of sarcasm, and persistence in its use by 
any teacher should be sufficient cause for his dismissal. 

In Bleak House, there was one room which was used at 
times by its owner for a peculiar purpose. Into this room 
Mr. Jarndyce was accustomed to retire when he was de- 
ceived, or disappointed, or out of humor. This room, 
claimed to be the best-used room in the house, was known 
as the " Growlery." If one so benevolent as Mr. Jarndyce, 
whose fits of ill humor were more affected than real, felt 
the need of such a refuge in which to go to growl, when out 
of humor, it seems not inappropriate to suggest that every 
school building should have at least one room of this kind, 
into which teachers can go when seized with a fit of scolding, 
and there remain until self-control returns and they are 
thereby enabled once more to assume control of their pupils. 
Without such self-control, a high degree of success is 
impossible. Its growth always characterizes the growing 
teacher. The lack of it is the cause of many failures. 

Insistence that teachers shall treat their pupils with 
respect and courtesy, avoid all forms of abusive speech, 
and not indulge in scolding, does not imply that they should 
be devoid of temper, or incapable of showing displeasure, 
or of feeling indignation at an intended affront or injury. 
Teachers need temper in abundant supply. But they also 
need to control it; not to be controlled by it. In the 
presence of a teacher whose temper is evident but whose 
self-control is shown by calmness of mind and moderation 
of speech, the most mischievous pupils will think carefully 
before taking any steps to stir up trouble. Under such 
conditions, they quietly hoist the danger signal — ^' Stop, 



NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS 45 

look, and listen " — which will warn all their associates to 
move carefully as there may be serious trouble ahead. 

Faith in self. — In addition to faith in humanity and in 
children, teachers must also have faith in themselves. 
This faith does not mean self-complacency, self-conceit, 
or self-satisfaction. It does mean that self-reliance or 
self-confidence which is absolutely essential to the success 
of any one who assumes responsibility or improves oppor- 
tunity. Self-exaltation and self-praise are foreign to true 
greatness. To a teacher of genuine merit, personal vanity 
is unknown. There are two types of egotism which sen- 
sible and honest people always shun. The one type over- 
estimates personal worth and is exceedingly offensive. 
The other pretends to a false humility and is, perhaps, even 
more distasteful. The first sings its own praise ; the other 
is constantly seeking compliments from others. 

Between the two extremes — foohsh over- appreciation of 
self and insincere self-depreciation — there is the middle 
ground of sensible self-confidence on which successful 
teachers must stand, with faith in themselves that they 
are able to meet the demands made upon them in the 
performance of their duties in the schoolroom. Such faith 
and confidence will lead teachers to utilize all possible 
means of growth in self-reliance, in order that they may be 
able to help themselves in trying emergencies. 

In the success which results largely from personal effort, 
teachers in common with humanity in general find one of 
their gravest dangers — the danger that they may, in the 
hour of their success, so overestimate their abihties to help 
themselves that they will become boastful rather than 
grateful. Faith in themselves must not, therefore, be 



46 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

permitted to exclude a keen appreciation of the limitations 
of their personal efforts in any success attained, of the 
need sometimes of help from others, and of the importance 
at all times of a feehng of genuine gratitude for help re- 
ceived. Temporary success in teaching, as in all other 
callings or professions, is a much severer test of character 
than cTccasional failure. Inability to pass such a test 
successfully is always shown by the lack of a spirit of genuine 
humihty which is always more willing to give credit to 
others than to claim it for self. 

Faith in self of the right type, is well described by 
General Horace Porter in his characterization of the suc- 
cessful commander of the Union forces in the Civil War : 

"General Grant never underestimated himself in battle. He 
never overestimated himself in victory." 

General Grant. — A brief review of the career of General 
Grant will furnish abundant evidence of the truthfulness 
of this characterization. It will be recalled that he was 
trained for the Hfe of a soldier at West Point and that he 
served with distinction in the Mexican War, taking part 
in all its battles save one, and being repeatedly brevetted 
for gallantry. Notwithstanding this training and expe- 
rience, so modest and retiring was his disposition, that he 
resigned his commission of captain in 1854 and engaged in 
farming near St. Louis. Later on he became associated 
with his father in the leather business at Galena. When 
the Civil War broke out, he promptly tendered his services 
to the government which had educated him, but received 
no reply to his letter addressed to the Adjutant General 
of the Army. His appointment, however, as colonel of an 



NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS 47 

Illinois regiment, by Governor Yates, furnished him the 
opportunity for service which he craved and his promotions, 
which rapidly followed, are well known. From September 
6, 1 86 1, when he seized Paducah, to the close of the war, 
April 9, 1865, every act of General Grant plainly showed 
that the first part of General Porter's characterization is 
correct. Two historic instances will serve to illustrate 
this side of his character. 

When General Buckner, who was in command of the 
Confederate forces at Fort Donelson, proposed an armistice 
and the appointment of commissioners to agree upon terms 
of capitulation of the forces and fort under his command. 
General Grant immediately replied in language which left 
no doubt as to his absolute confidence in his ability to en- 
force the terms of his proposal — '^ No terms except an 
unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I 
propose to move immediately upon your works." These 
are not the boastful words of an egotist, unduly impressed 
with an overestimation of his own self-importance. They 
are the calm expression of sublime self-confidence on the 
part of an extremely modest man who did not underestimate 
himself in battle. 

Again, in May, 1864, when thousands of brave men were 
sacrificed in terrible warfare, and, as a consequence. General 
Grant was subjected to the most severe denunciation and 
abuse by those whose ignorance of conditions and needs 
made them ever ready to criticize his movements, there 
came from this man of few words but mighty deeds, the 
laconic expression of his determined purpose to " fight it 
out on this line, if it takes all summer " — another proof 
of his faith in himself to lead his armies to final victory. 



48 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

That General Grant did not overestimate himself in 
victory is evidenced in many instances. One of the most 
impressive of these is found in the surrender at Appomattox, 
one of the greatest events in human history. 

A man of less self-control and generosity than General 
Grant might have found in the victory which came with 
this surrender, some excuse for personal glorification, as 
well as an opportunity to humiliate a great adversary. 
But no such thought seems to have entered the mind of 
General Grant. His generous soul and modest spirit 
prompted him to avoid all appearance of ostentation and to 
show every possible courtesy to General Lee and his de- 
feated troops. He tells us in his Personal Memoirs that, 
while his feelings were quite jubilant on the receipt of 
General Lee's letter relating to the surrender, when the 
surrender itself came, he felt no inclination to rejoice at 
the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and vahantly 
and had suffered so much. In kindness of heart, modesty 
of manner, and simpHcity of speech. General Grant stated 
the terms of surrender, which were most liberal and 
generous. In every possible way, he manifested the most 
kindly consideration for his great opponent and his generous 
sympathy for the defeated army, even to the extent of 
stopping his own victorious soldiers from firing a salute of 
one hundred guns in honor of their victory, because he 
did not want to exult over the downfall of the Confederates 
who were then their prisoners. 

In these hours of triumphant success, General Grant 
did not overestimate himself. With humility, as marked 
in victory as his self-confidence had been in battle, he began 
at once to exert his whole influence for peace. The four 



NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS 49 

short words contained in one of the shortest sentences of 
his brief letter of acceptance of his nomination for the presi- 
dency — '' Let us have peace " — fell like a benediction 
upon all sections of the Nation which he loved, did much to 
help to heal that Nation's wounds, and to prepare the way 
for the national peace which all hope and believe is to be 
permanent. 

Teachers in common with all persons who are engaged 
in work of far-reaching importance have, at times, serious 
difficulties to meet. To be able to face such difhculties 
in that brave spirit which does not underestimate itself 
is a large factor in insuring success. To be able to succeed 
and at the same time to retain that spirit of genuine humility 
which never overestimates itself in victory is the best 
evidence that success has been worthily won and the surest 
promise that it will contimae. 

A young teacher's experience. — A brief account of the 
experience of a young teacher will illustrate the feeling of 
pupils relative to the necessity of self-confidence as a factor 
in success, and may serve as a warning to teachers whose 
actions constantly indicate their lack of faith in their 
ability to succeed. This experience came one morning at 
the close of the devotional exercises with which the work of 
the school day began. A boy of nine or ten was called to 
the teacher's desk to receive a reprimand for some miscon- 
duct, and was publicly accused of being the worst boy in the 
school. Such an accusation was, in itself, a serious blunder, 
as the boy naturally felt that he must show that he was not 
entirely undeserving of such a charge. This was followed 
by a more costly blunder by the teacher in the statement 
that he did not know what to do with the boy — an 

OUR PUB. S. — 4 



50 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

admission which gave to the boy a keen realization of his 
own abihty to make trouble and of the teacher's lack of 
confidence in his ability to meet it. Then followed a pro- 
posal by the teacher that the boy and he change places, in 
which case the boy was asked, what he, as a teacher, would 
do with the teacher, as a pupil. This general question 
brought no reply from the boy whose caution might well 
be imitated by all teachers who habitually speak without 
thinking. The teacher then inquired, " Would you keep 
me in at recess? " to which the boy replied with an emphatic 
" No." '' Would you stand me on the floor? " asked the 
teacher, and again the prompt reply was " No." Sending 
home, whipping, and the other common methods of punish- 
ment were proposed, and each one met with the same reply. 
The teacher concluded his questions by asking, '' What, 
then, would you do with me? " to which the boy calmly re- 
plied, " It seems to me if I was you and couldn't teach this 
school, I'd go and get one I could teach." 

While few teachers may receive such a frank answer 
as the one quoted from this boy, all teachers will do well to 
consider that his answer truthfully expresses what all 
pupils think of teachers who doubt their ability to control 
their schools. 

Faith in God. — As the one sure foundation for this faith 
in humanity, in childhood, and in self, there should be in 
every teacher's soul a firm faith in God. Such faith has 
been in the past, and is to-day, the mightiest force for good 
in all the world. Profane as well as sacred literature bears 
testimony to its power in the lives of men and women. All 
human experience proves the truthfulness of the sentiment 
expressed by Bulwer-Lytton : 



NATURAL CHAKACTERISTICS 5 1 

"Strike from mankind the principle of faith, and man would have 
no more history than a flock of sheep." 

Down deep in our souls there is a feeling which is in 
accord with the sublime sentiments recorded in the 
eleventh chapter of Hebrews, and with its author, we 
are led to say: 

"But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that 
Cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of 
them that diligently seek him." 

There is nothing sectarian in such faith — nothing in 
it which does not appeal to both the judgment and the 
conscience of an overwhelming majority of men and 
women of all times and conditions. It is this faith that 
life is of divine origin and that the human soul is immortal, 
which gives to education its loftiest conception and to the 
teachers of boys and girls their highest incentive to faith- 
ful service. 

"Talk faith. The world is better off without 
Your uttered ignorance and morbid doubt. 
If you have faith in God, or man, or self. 
Say so ; if not, push back upon the shelf 
Of silence, all your thoughts till faith shall come. 
No one will grieve because your lips are dumb." 



IV 

ACQUIRED ABILITIES 

THE emphasis placed, in the preceding chapter, upon 
the natural characteristics of teachers, as essential 
factors in their success, does not signify a belief 
that teachers are born with a full and complete equipment 
of teaching power. To assume that teachers are so born 
is as unreasonable as to claim that training alone will make 
successful teachers of all who are the recipients of it. The 
purpose of this chapter is to emphasize the equal importance 
of those acquired abilities which all successful teachers 
must possess and which result from education, training, 
and experience. 

Power of concentration. — One of the most important 
of these acquired abilities is the power to concentrate 
attention upon the subject at hand and to think logically to 
a definite and correct conclusion. The exercise of such 
power produces a type of knowledge which possesses certain 
marked characteristics. It is always clear, distinct, and 
positive. It always creates an insatiable desire for more 
knowledge. A power in itself, such knowledge always 
reacts upon the thinking, of which it is largely the product, 
in such a manner as to clarify and strengthen it. Useful 
knowledge and conscious thinking are intimately related. 

'' You may know the fellow who thinks he thinks, 
Or the fellow who thinks he knows ; 
But find the fellow who knows he thinks 
And you know the fellow who knows." 
52 



ACQUIRED ABILITIES 53 

"He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not ; he is a fool, 

shun him. 
He who knows not, and knows that he knows not ; he is simple, 

teach him. 
He who knows, and knows not that he knows ; he is asleep, wake 

him. 
He who knows, and knows that he knows ; he is wise, follow him." 

A thorough study of the subjects to be taught is a 
fundamental necessity in the education of all teachers. 
The purpose of such study should be to develop teachers 
who are strong minded because they know that they think 
and who are wise leaders because they know that they know. 

Power of expression. — Equal in importance with the 
ability to think accurately and to know positively is the 
ability to express what is thus thought and known in simple 
and direct language. Growth in teaching power depends 
in no small degree upon growth in language power, and the 
cultivation of such power should claim the serious attention 
of all who aspire to teach. 

All teachers of all subjects should have such a love for 
the English language as will lead them to a keen appre- 
ciation of its importance as a medium for the expression of 
thought and also cause them to put forth every possible 
effort to increase their teaching power by constantly 
increasing their ability to use such language as will most 
clearly express the ideas which they desire to convey. 

The English language. — Tributes of appreciation have 
been paid to the beauty and forcefulness of the English 
language by many of the great scholars of the world, and 
ready assent will be given to the truthfulness of the fol- 
lowing sentiment : 



54 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

"The Greek's a harp we love to hear; 
The Latin is a trumpet clear ; 
Spanish like an organ swells ; 
Italian rings its silver bells ; 
France, with many a frolic mien, 
Tunes her sprightly violin ; 
Loud the German rolls his drum, 
When Russia's clashing cymbals come ; 
But Britain's sons may well rejoice, 
For English is the human voice." 

All who love the English language and appreciate its 
beauty and power should help in every way to preserve 
its purity. To teachers, especially, is intrusted this 
exceedingly important work. It is, therefore, imperative 
that teachers of all classes realize their responsibility in 
the use of English and the opportunity which comes with 
such responsibility. It should never be forgotten that 
accurate expression of thought always reacts to produce 
accurate thinking which in turn results in a product worthy 
of expression. It is fortunately true that in language 
training, as in moral training, example is more forceful 
than precept. Because of this fact, the teacher's language 
should, in so far as possible, always furnish an example 
worthy of imitation. 

A common tendency of all times, and with all classes, 
especially with boys and girls in the public schools and 
students in college, is indicated by the use of extravagant 
language in the expression of ideas concerning the most 
commonplace things. How often we hear objects of small 
significance and events of little importance described in an 
exaggerated manner by the use of superlative terms. Many 
adjectives, which should be held in reserve, to be used only 



ACQUIRED ABILITIES 55 

in an emergency, are so overworked on ordinary occasions 
that when the emergency arises, they are unfitted for duty. 
A language sanitarium in which overworked descriptive 
words and phrases could remain in quiet retirement until 
a real need for their use presented itself, would serve a 
useful purpose in connection with many lives. 

The harmful results of persistent carelessness in the use 
of language which does not accurately express thought are 
not confined to the language itself. Such use invariably 
reacts upon the thinking of which the language is the in- 
accurate expression. Without exception, lack of precision 
in language is indicative of loose thinking. It is, therefore, 
highly important that teachers should develop by education 
and training the ability to use language with exactness, and 
by constant practice, should acquire the habit of stating 
precisely what they mean in both speaking and writing. 

The use of slang. — All teachers should be constantly 
alert to protect the language they love against the slang 
expressions which are ever seeking entrance to their speak- 
ing vocabularies. They should find themselves in hearty 
agreement with the sentiments of Doctor Holmes as 
expressed in the following quotation from The Autocrat 
of the Breakfast Table : 

"I think there is one habit worse than that of punning. It is the 
gradual substitution of cant or slang terms for words which truly 
characterize their objects. I have known several very genteel idiots 
whose whole vocabulary had deliquesced into some half dozen expres- 
sions. All things fell into two categories — fast or slow. Man's chief 
end was to be a hrick. When the great calamities of life overtook 
their friends, these last were spoken of as being a good deal cut up. 
Nine tenths of human existence were summed up in the single word, 
hore. These expressions come to be the algebraic symbols of minds 



56 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

which have grown too weak or indolent to discriminate. They are the 
blank checks of intellectual bankruptcy. — You may fill them with 
what idea you like ; it makes no difference ; for there are no funds 
in the treasury upon which they are drawn. Colleges and good-for- 
nothing smoking-clubs are the places where these conversational 
fungi spring up most luxuriantly. Don't think 1 undervalue the 
proper use and application of a cant word or phrase. It adds pi- 
quancy to conversation as a mushroom does to a sauce. But it is no 
better than a toad-stool, odious to the sense, and poisonous to the 
intellect, when it spawns itself all over the talk of men and youths 
who are capable of talking, as it sometimes does. As we hear slang 
phraseology, it is commonly the dishwater from the washings of 
English dandyism, schoolboy or full-grown, wrung out of a three- 
volume novel which had sopped it up, or decanted from the pictured 
urn of Mr. Verdant Green, and diluted to suit the provincial climate." 

In this quotation Doctor Holmes truly characterizes 
slang and accurately estimates the effect of its constant 
use upon the minds of those who are addicted to it. 
" Genteel idiots," " minds grown too weak or indolent to 
discriminate," and " intellectual bankruptcy " are its 
products. While its occasional use is no doubt justifiable 
and while teachers should, with Doctor Holmes, not under- 
value such use, the influence of their precept and example 
should always be against such general use of slang as must, 
indeed, be " odious to the sense and poisonous to the in- 
tellect " of all persons of refinement and intelligence. 

The ability to use simple language in the expression of 
clear thinking is a most important factor in the success 
of all teachers. It is impossible to overestimate the value 
of the teaching power which depends upon the possession 
of such ability. To aid teachers in its acquirement should 
be one of the definite aims of all their education and training, 
and to increase such ability should be the constant pur- 



ACQUIRED ABILITIES 57 

pose of all who teach. All persons who are unable to tell 
what they think or know in simple language are seriously 
handicapped in the work of teaching any class of students 
and should be forever prohibited from teaching teachers, 
because of the far-reaching injury which may result there- 
from. No doubt the enforcement of such a prohibition 
would create a number of vacancies in some normal schools 
and teachers' colleges, but since a position occupied by a 
teacher who cannot use language which can be understood 
by his students is really vacant anyhow, no loss would 
result from the creation of such vacancies. 

Pedaguese. — In a most delightful little volume entitled 
A Joysome History of Education is found the word, " peda- 
guese," coined by the author of the history to characterize 
the language used by entirely too many who attempt to 
write or speak on educational subjects, and who, to quote the 
words of the author, " have given their own mysterious 
meanings to so many common expressions, that it is now 
absolutely necessary to have a word which shall name this 
new language " — a language which "isn't English ; and 
to consider it such would be to convict the writer of drivel- 
ing idiocy." 

To serve as a warning of what may come to a teacher, 
writer, or speaker who persists in giving " mysterious 
meanings " to commonplace things or who attempts to 
conceal entire absence of thought by the use of ponderous 
words, the examples of " pedaguese " contained in A 
Joysome History of Education are heartily commended. 

While there is something amusing in the use of " peda- 
guese," its frequent appearance in pedagogical literature 
has its serious side. Quite often earnest teachers, unable 



58 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

to comprehend the meaning of such language, are thrown 
into a condition of complete discouragement which leads 
them to doubt their ability to comprehend. As a result of 
such discouragement and doubt, they quit reading, stop 
thinking, and cease growing, or else fall into the habit of 
using meaningless language, themselves. 

Lincoln as a master of language. — It is pleasing and 
helpful to turn from a consideration of such meaningless 
language, which should be studiously avoided, to the 
language of simplicity as used by all really great thinkers 
and effective writers and speakers. No better example 
of the use of simple language to express profound thought 
can be found than the example furnished by Lincoln's 
Gettysburg address : 

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this 
continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the 
proposition that all men are created equal, 

*'Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that 
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. 
We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to 
dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who 
here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether 
fitting and proper that we should do this. 

"But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot conse- 
crate — we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and 
dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor 
power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember 
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is 
for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work 
which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is 
rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before 
us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that 
cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that 



ACQUIRED ABILITIES 59 

we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — 
that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — 
and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, 
shall not perish from the earth." 

An analysis of this address to determine its language 
structure will be of interest to all teachers who are striving 
to acquire teaching power by a mastery of English, as well 
as to all pupils who are old enough to appreciate the meaning 
and force of words fittingly used. Some of the interesting 
facts revealed by such an analysis are : 

Total number of words used, including the articles "a" and 

"the" 268 

Words of one syllable 196 

Words of two syllables 46 

Words of three syllables 18 

Words of four syllables 8 

Or stated in per cents to nearest integer : 

Words of one syllable 73 per cent 

Words of two syllables 17 " 

Words of three syllables 7 " 

Words of four syllables 3 " 

Total number of diferent words used 139 

Dififerent words of one syllable 83 

Different words of two syllables 36 

Different words of three syllables 15 

Different words of four syllables 5 

Or stated in per cents to nearest integer : 

Different words of one syllable 60 per cent 

Different words of two syllables 26 " 

Different words of three syllables 11 " 

Different words of four syllables 3 " 



6o THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

While Lincoln was, no doubt, specially endowed with 
great natural ability to think clearly and logically, there is 
also no doubt that his exceptional ability so to think and so 
to express his thoughts in language of such marvelous sim- 
phcity was acquired by the most persistent self-schooling 
and laborious practice. The method by which he thus 
trained himself to think and to express thought is plainly 
described in the following summary of the historic " inter- 
view " of the Reverend John P. Gulliver with Mr. Lincoln 
the morning after his speech at Norwich, Connecticut, a 
few months before his nomination for the presidency in 
i860. 

In the opening paragraphs of this '' interview, " Mr. 
Gulliver tells of the impression made upon him by Mr. 
Lincoln's remarkable address and of his introduction to him 
the following morning at the railroad station while waiting 
for the train. After boarding the train they entered into 
a conversation about the address in which Mr. Lincoln was 
asked to explain how he gained his '' unusual power of 
' putting things,' " the request being accompanied with 
the observation that " It must have been a matter of 
education," and the question, " What has your education 
been? " To this request Mr. Lincoln replied : 

"Well, as to education, the newspapers are correct — I never 
went to school more than six months in my life. But, as you say, 
this must be a product of culture in some form. I have been putting 
the question you ask me, to myself, while you have been talking. 
I can say this, that, among my earliest recollections, I remember 
how, when a mere child, I used to get irritated when anybody talked 
to me in a way I could not understand. I don't think I ever got 
angry at anything else in my life. But that always disturbed my 
temper, and has ever since. I can remember going to my little 



ACQUIRED ABILITIES 6l 

bedroom, after hearing the neighbors talk of an evening with my 
father, and spending no small part of the night walking up and down, 
and trying to make out what was the exact meaning of some of their, 
to me, dark sayings. I could not sleep, though I often tried to, when I 
got on such a hunt after an idea, until I had caught it ; and when I 
thought I had got it, I was not satisfied until I had repeated it over 
and over, until I had put it in language plain enough, as I thought, 
for any boy I knew to comprehend. This was a kind of passion with 
me, and it has stuck by me, for I am never easy now when I am 
handhng a thought till I have bounded it north and bounded it 
south and bounded it east and bounded it west. Perhaps that 
accounts for the characteristic you observe in my speeches, though 
I never put the two things together before." 

One more quotation from this '' interview " will serve 
to show that Mr. Lincoln, in later years, still kept up the 
self-training which made him such a master of reasoning 
and of clearness and simphcity of statement. In response 
to the questions, " Did you not have a law education? " 
and " How did you prepare for your profession? " he 
replied : 

"Oh, yes! I 'read law,' as the phrase is; that is I became a 
lawyer's clerk in Springfield, and copied tedious documents, and 
picked up what I could of law in the intervals of other work. But 
your question reminds me of a bit of education I had, which I am 
bound in honesty to mention. In the course of my law-reading I 
constantly came upon the word demonstrate. I thought, at first, 
that I understood its meaning, but soon became satisfied that I did 
not. I said to myself, 'What do I do when I demonstrate more than 
when I reason' or prove? How does demonstration differ from any 
other proof?' I consulted Webster's Dictionary. That told of 
'certain proof,' 'Proof beyond the possibihty of doubt ; ' but I could 
form no idea what sort of proof that was. I thought a great many 
things were proved beyond a possibility of doubt, without recourse 
to any such extraordinary process of reasoning as I understood 



62 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

'demonstration' to be. I consulted all the dictionaries and books of 
reference I could find, but with no better results. You might as well 
have defined blue to a blind man. At last I said, 'Lincoln, you can 
never make a lawyer if you do not understand what demonstrate 
means'; and I left my situation in Springfield, went home to my 
father's house and stayed there till I could give any proposition in the 
six books of Euclid at sight. I then found out what 'demonstrate' 
means, and went back to my law studies." 

Here we find the secrets of Lincoln's ability to use lan- 
guage with such simplicity, clearness, and definiteness. In 
the first place his desire to comprehend all that was said in 
his presence was so intense that any failure on his part to 
understand made him uncomfortable, impatient, and even 
angry. The mental pictures presented by him of his 
boyhood struggles, in his lonely room, when on the hunt of 
an idea, determined to think out the hidden meaning of 
some conversation to which he had listened, and of his 
determination, when a law student, not to proceed further 
with his law reading until he knew for himself what " demon- 
strate " meant, are most impressive and suggestive. It 
should also be noted that when he went on the hunt of an 
idea, he never gave up the chase or ceased the struggle to 
comprehend, until he " caught the idea.^^ Failure " to 
catch the idea " or to come even within hailing distance 
of an idea is the cause of much of the high sounding but 
utterly meaningless language used by some writers and 
speakers on educational subjects. 

The final step in his process of self-education and training 
is shown in the persistent drill to which he subjected himself, 
by bounding the *' caught idea " north, south, east, and 
west, and by calling into use every illustration or anecdote 
at his command, to enable him to tell what he had learned 



ACQUIRED ABILITIES 63 

to comprehend with so much difficulty to the other boys 
(and later on to the people of a nation) in such a simple 
manner as would make it perfectly plain to them. 

By this persistent training, Lincoln gained the power of 
" eloquent simplicity " which characterized all his utter- 
ances. His use of English well illustrates Emerson's 
statement : " Eloquence is the power to translate a truth 
into language perfectly inteUigible to the person to whom 
you speak." 

It is only by a similar process of persistent training that 
language power can be attained to any degree by a teacher. 
There must be a similar earnest desire to understand fully 
and to comprehend definitely the subject under con- 
sideration, a similar " hunt " for ideas to express, and a 
similar effort to clothe these ideas in language so plain 
and simple as to make them perfectly inteUigible to the 
hearer or reader. 

A teacher's preparation to teach. — Several years ago 
a young man was teaching his first school in a country 
district. His educational capital was small but his desire 
to add to it was large. All the lessons to be taught to the 
children were carefully prepared in advance and an earnest 
effort was made to master the subject matter of each 
lesson so that it could be presented with clearness and 
simplicity. In this work of preparation a serious difficulty 
presented itself in a geography lesson relating to the ex- 
planation of the change of the seasons. The temptation 
was strong to follow the line of least resistance, to do the 
easiest thing, and to teach the lesson to the children as it 
had been taught to the teacher, by having the explanation 
in the book memorized and recited. In this way time would 



64 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

be saved and effort economized. Should any pupil at 
some future time be required to pass an examination for a 
teacher's certificate, and should such examination ask for 
an explanation for the change of seasons, as is usually the 
case, the memorized definition would meet all the require- 
ments, as it had already done for the teacher when he 
secured his certificate. 

The teacher felt, however, that he would like to under- 
stand the reasons given in the book for the change of 
seasons, and set about in earnest " to hunt for the idea " 
which was fundamental to such understanding. For- 
tunately no expensive apparatus was at hand and he was 
compelled to provide his own. This apparatus consisted 
of a globe-shaped collar box to represent the earth and a 
piece of candle to serve for the sun. The closing of the 
board shutters of the schoolhouse made the room dark 
enough to bring out the full effect of the planetary move- 
ments about to take place and secret enough to insure 
against undue publicity in the " research " work to be 
carried on. The collar box was provided with a wire pole 
and the miniature earth was then inclined the right number 
of degrees to the plane of its orbit. The candle was lighted 
and the " solar system" was set in motion. 

With persistent determination, born of an earnest desire 
to understand the statements in the textbook, the young 
teacher patiently sought to find out for himself why the 
tropics and the polar circles are placed where they are, 
why the seasons change as they do, why days are long and 
nights are short in the summer and nights are long and 
days are short in the winter, and why days and nights are 
equal at certain times. After repeated attempts to solve 



ACQUIRED ABILITIES 6$ 

these mysteries, he finally '' caught the idea " and the real 
joy which came with the discovery can never be forgotten by 
that teacher. The first step had been taken toward making 
the idea plain to the pupils. 

Then followed a careful consideration of the best means 
of presenting the lesson to the class so that the boys and 
girls as well as the teacher could understand it. It is 
needless to state that there was an immediate revival of 
interest in the subject of geography in that school, as there 
will always be a revival of interest in any subject in any 
school, when the teacher has so mastered the lesson that he 
has ideas rather than mere words to present, and can, as 
the result of such mastery, present his ideas to the pupils 
with clearness, definiteness, and simplicity. 

Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the necessity 
of the use of such language by teachers as will be perfectly 
plain and definite in its meaning to pupils. One word 
not understood by the pupils will often break the thought 
connection in a recitation, between the instructor and the 
class, thereby making the entire recitation meaningless 
and, therefore, worthless. If, perchance, the word not 
understood is caught up by the pupils, instead of the idea 
it was intended to express, the result will be that the state- 
ment thus misunderstood is memorized with no thought at 
all as to its meaning ; or a wrong meaning will be given 
to it which leads to a ridiculous misunderstanding. 

The study of words. — Many of the blunders in recita- 
tion and examination credited to the stupidity of pupils 
should be charged to poor instruction by teachers whose 
thought is not clear and whose language is, therefore, indef- 
inite and meaningless. The following incident will serve 

OUR PUB. S. 5 



66 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

to illustrate the importance of a full and complete under- 
standing of the meaning of words in teaching a reading 
lesson to children. The incident occurred in a teachers' 
institute in connection with the presentation, by an in- 
structor in primary work, of a lesson in the second reader, 
to a group of children, who had been prevailed upon to 
give a few hours of their vacation time for experimental 
purposes. 

With rare skill, this instructor, a woman of varied and 
uniformly successful experience, proceeded with the deh- 
cate and difficult task of teaching this group of children in 
the presence of a large audience of teachers. Her kindly 
tone of voice and quiet manner soon made the children feel 
at home. Apparently unconscious of the presence of hun- 
dreds of interested listeners, the children talked eagerly 
and naturally with their teacher about the affairs which 
touched their little lives. The reading lesson was then 
taken up and its subject matter talked over in a familiar 
and interesting manner. The difficult words which were 
new to the children were placed upon the blackboard, 
properly marked for pronunciation, their meaning explained 
in a simple, direct way, and their proper use illustrated 
by sentences. The word " present " was prominent in the 
lesson. Its meaning was really the key to a correct under- 
standing of much that the lesson contained. The children 
had spelled it, pronounced it, and used it in a number of 
sentences. To some teachers in that audience there 
seemed to be a waste of time in getting at the meaning of 
the word. Finally after all the preliminary drill, the teacher 
asked the children to tell in their own language what they 
thought a " present " was. At once there came from a 



ACQUIRED ABILITIES 67 

volunteer the statement, '' A present is something you give 
somebody." Then the teacher, whose skill and tact 
prompted her to use every means to bring out the meaning 
of words, picked up an empty crayon box near by and, 
holding it aloft before the class, said, " Is this a present? " 
The children replied in the negative with great unanimity 
and emphasis. Then said the teacher " What shall I do 
with it to make a present out of it? " presuming, of course, 
that some child would give the expected answer, " Give 
it to some one and it will be a present." But the un- 
expected, which can usually be expected in school, occurred. 
A little girl whose frail body, wan face, and general 
appearance indicated that she came from a home of poverty, 
held up her tiny hand as an indication that she had an 
answer. The teacher told the child how glad she was to 
see her ready to answer, and then asked her to tell the class 
and the institute what should be done with the crayon box 
to make a present out of it. In a timid manner, but with 
a voice clear and distinct, the little girl replied — '^ Cover 
it with plush." Her reply was a revelation to all the 
teachers in that institute. It was evident that the meaning 
put into the word, ^' present," by this child was the natural 
outgrowth of experiences in the home from which she came. 
In that home she had undoubtedly seen little gifts made by 
her mother or sisters by covering boxes with plush, because 
there was no money with which to buy expensive presents, 
and to her childish mind, her definition was ample to in- 
clude all presents. The teacher then made plain the fuller 
meaning of the word. Without such explanation, the child, 
having read the lesson with her own idea of a present in 
mind, would have failed to grasp its larger significance. 



68 THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 

While acquired abilities other than those named in this 
chapter will, no doubt, suggest themselves to the reader, 
the ability to think clearly and the abihty to express the 
results of such thinking in simple direct language are of 
fundamental importance in the equipment of teachers for 
their work. Without such equipment no person, whatever 
his reputation for scholarship may be, is fitted to teach. 



THE TEACHER'S GROWTH AND SURPLUS 



69 



V 

THE TEACHERS' READING CIRCLE 

IF I cease to become better, I shall soon cease to be 
good " is a suggestive sentiment credited to Oliver 
Cromwell. While this sentiment was probably in- 
tended by its author to apply to moral and spiritual life 
and growth, there can be no doubt that it also applies 
with equal truthfulness and force to the professional life 
and growth of teachers. Important as are their natural 
characteristics and acquired abilities, their professional 
life and growth are even more important. Essential as 
are their academic education and professional training, their 
continued self-improvement, after they have been educated 
and trained, is even more essential. The opportunities 
for such professional growth and self-improvement are 
abundant. The attitude of teachers toward these oppor- 
tunities, and the use which they make of them, furnish a 
fair standard by which to judge their merits. 

Origin of Teachers' Reading Circles. — One of the most 
important of these opportunities for professional growth 
and self-improvement is found in the Teachers' Reading 
Circle which has an existence in some form in nearly all 
the states of the Union. Since the reading circle is now 
so universally recognized as an important factor in the 
professional growth of teachers, it seems appropriate, in 
this connection, to call attention to the history of its 
organization. 

71 



72 THE TEACHER S GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

To the late Mrs. D. L. Williams of Delaware, Ohio, is 
due the honor of first proposing a State Course of Reading 
for Teachers, in an address delivered before the Ohio 
State Teachers' Association, July 6, 1882. The subject 
of this unusually helpful and inspiriting address was Young 
Teachers and Their Calling. So important is this address 
and so applicable to present conditions that a brief summary 
of its contents is given. 

It contained first, an earnest appeal to all teachers with 
prospective teachers among their pupils, "to show them a 
well-managed and well- taught school," which might serve 
as a model to be imitated, and to make such pupils '' the 
special objects of their professional attention." Examiners 
of teachers were urged to protect '' the young teacher who 
has made conscientious and laborious preparation " by 
such treatment as will insure recognition of his merits, and 
to use '' firmness in rejecting incompetence." The ex- 
treme importance of showing practical appreciation of real 
merit in young teachers by regular increase of salary and 
increasing permanency of position was impressed upon 
school directors and superintendents, and deserved em- 
phasis was placed upon the duty which '' the profession in 
general owes to the young persons entering it, in the pro- 
fessional spirit." The closing paragraph of this address 
which led to the establishment of the Ohio Teachers' 
Reading Circle, is of such interest in its relation to the 
reading circle movement as to warrant its republication : 

''My 'lastly' I scarcely dare venture upon lest it be dismissed 
as visionary and impracticable. For many years I have been enter- 
taining a theory that a course of reading, reaching through several 
years, might be instituted under the management of this Association, 



THE teachers' READING CIRCLE 73 

with its annual examinations and reports at this annual reunion ; 
appropriate honors being conferred at its completion. If such a 
course of reading, partly professional, could be made available for 
young teachers, it seems to me it would be of extreme value. Since 
the Chautauqua Literary Course has been such an eminent success, 
I have more confidence than ever in the feasibility of such a plan. 
But it would involve labor, and would require self-sacrifice, on the 
part of the wisest and most capable, and, therefore, the most over- 
worked members of the Association, to make it a success. I doubt, 
however, whether any work we can do would pay a larger dividend. 
I do not dare, in closing, Mr. President, to move for a committee 
to report upon this matter. I fear it is too soon. But in the dis- 
cussion which follows this paper, I shall be glad to hear the objections 
which suggest themselves to the members of the Association. Would 
an ' Ohio State Teachers' Course of Reading ' meet a need of the young 
teachers of the State, and incite them to self-improvement ; and, if 
so, is such a course of reading practicable?" 

The address was discussed by a number of the leading 
teachers and superintendents attending the meeting, nearly 
all of whom heartily indorsed the plan, proposed by Mrs. 
Williams, of establishing a state course of reading for 
teachers. This discussion was followed by the adoption 
of the following resolution : 

^^ Resolved, That the x\ssociation heartily approves the suggestion 
made at the conclusion of the paper read by Mrs. WiUiams, concerning 
a Course of Reading for Teachers. 

''That Mrs. D. L. Williams, Hon. J. J. Burns, and Dr. John 
Hancock be appointed a committee with full power to mature a plan 
and to put it in operation ; and to make a report of the same to this 
Association at its next x^nnual Meeting." 

At the next meeting of the Ohio State Teachers' Asso- 
ciation, held July, 1883, the committee submitted a report 
which was adopted by the Association. Certain parts of 



74 THE teacher's growth and surplus 

this report, quoted in the following paragraphs, are full 
of interest as relating to the history of the establishment 
of the Reading Circle and as expressing in the best possible 
way the purpose and value of systematic reading for 
teachers. 

"Your committee believes such a course of reading practicable, 
and that just at this time, when a membership in a Reading Club, 
or a Literary Society, is almost essential to social recognition such 
an enterprise may very easily be inaugurated, and successfully carried 
forward. * * * 

"In such organizations (reading circles) the enthusiasm and 
culture of a few leading minds quicken all that come in contact with 
them, and lift up standards of excellence for all to strive towards. 
As a plan is adopted to which all must conform, reading is methodi- 
cally done, and if such a plan is followed for any length of time there is 
at least a possibility that a habit of reading may be formed. The 
reading is likely to be done thoroughly, because it is done in the 
expectation of being questioned upon the matter read, and the reader 
does not wish to fail. It is done con amore, because a sufficient 
number are engaged in it to give zest to what otherwise might be 
regarded as, at best, a laborious duty. It brings teachers into intel- 
lectual companionship and sympathy, and so gives to each the intel- 
lectual support and self-respecting independence of all. The strong 
are made better and stronger by what they impart, and the weak 
are unconsciously helped to a higher plane of thinking and doing by 
intellectual contact with those stronger than themselves." 

This admirable report wisely recommended that the 
course of reading be in part professional and in part 
literary ; that it be four years in length ; that it ''be under 
the care and direction of Ohio Teachers' iVssociation " ; 
and " that the Association proceed at once to take the 
necessary steps to inaugurate an organization among the 



THE teachers' READING CIRCLE 75 

teachers of Ohio for reading and study, to be known as the 
' Ohio Teachers' Reading Circle.' " 

The recommendations of this report were promptly 
indorsed and executed, and before the adjournment of 
the Association a " Board of Control," consisting of eight 
members, was chosen, and the " First Year's Course of 
Reading," and in so far as can be determined from any 
reliable record, the first course oj reading to he adopted for 
the teachers of a state, was announced as follows : 

" I. In Pedagogy, one of the following : Hailman's 
History of Pedagogy, Krusi's Festalozzi, Quick's Educa- 
tional Reformers. The committee also expect the members 
to read at least one educational periodical. 

" 11. In Poetry, Longfellow, Whittier, or Lowell — 
life and poetical works. 

^' III. In American History, the discovery and early 
settlement of North America, to 1776 ; and we recommend 
under this head, Irving's Columbus, Parkman's Histories, 
Bancroft, and Higginson." 

Since this beginning over three decades ago, the teachers' 
reading circle movement has grown until it now includes 
all sections of the country. In many states, the books are 
carefully selected by a special committee appointed by the 
State Teachers' Association or some other properly con- 
stituted authority, and the course so selected is uniform 
throughout the state. In other states the books to be read 
by the teachers of a county are recommended or selected 
either by the county superintendent or by a committee 
appointed by him for that purpose. 

In the absence of carefully kept records in many states 
and counties, it is not possible to determine with certainty 



76 THE teacher's growth and surplus 

or even to estimate with any degree of accuracy how many 
teachers have availed themselves of the excellent oppor- 
tunity furnished by these courses of reading as an efficient 
means of professional growth. There can be no doubt, 
however, that hundreds of thousands of teachers have been 
directly benefited in this way and that many additional 
thousands have, in a smaller measure, been indirectly 
helped. In Ohio, the " Mother State," the average annual 
enrollment of teachers who have read with more or less 
thoroughness one or more of the courses adopted, since 
the work was inaugurated in 1883, is at least five thousand. 
Many teachers, principals, and superintendents, now in 
'active service in prominent positions, have carefully read 
and studied all the books adopted, and in their libraries 
will be found the '' Reading Circle Books " which are 
usually the most prized, the best read, and most completely 
digested volumes in their possession. 

Although the teachers' reading circle was organized for 
the purpose of helping young and inexperienced teachers, 
it is quite evident, as indicated in the preceding paragraph, 
that its benefits have not been confined to such teachers, 
but have been extended to teachers of all classes, who have 
realized the need of continuous growth and constant self- 
improvement. As predicted in the report of the committee 
setting forth the promised benefits of the proposed organi- 
zation of a reading circle, the enthusiasm and culture of a 
few leading minds have quickened all that came in contact 
with them and these leading minds have, in turn, them- 
selves been quickened into clearer thinking and more sym- 
pathetic feeling, as a result of the unselfish service they have 
given to others. All teachers who have availed themselves 



THE teachers' READING CIRCLE 77 

of the opportunity furnished by the reading circle to read 
and think together, have thereby been brought into in- 
tellectual sympathy and companionship. 

In view of the professional growth and personal culture 
which are assured to all who actively participate in reading 
circle work, it is difficult to understand why any teachers 
who prize such growth and culture should neglect to take 
advantage of the opportunities thus offered for self- 
improvement. It is quite probable that such neglect is 
primarily due to a failure to realize the need of such self- 
improvement and that the alleged reasons offered by some 
teachers for not taking advantage of such opportunities 
are really excuses born of laziness or indifference. 

Some poor excuses. — Occasionally teachers will claim 
that they know their own individual and professional needs 
much better than those needs can possibly be known by 
any reading circle board or committee and that they, 
therefore, prefer to pursue courses of reading of their own 
selection. Usually such teachers never make such selec- 
tion and do not read at all. Even if they do read, they 
thereby exhibit a type of selfishness which is destructive 
to that professional spirit which all true teachers are 
anxious to encourage and to cultivate. 

There are always some teachers who attempt to justify 
their refusal to take part in the work of the Teachers' 
Reading Circle by the claim that they are members of a 
Chautauqua Circle, or some circle of a similar character, 
and that all their time is occupied in reading the course 
adopted by such circle. While such membership and read- 
ing are to be commended, no really professional teacher 
will attempt to substitute them for membership in a 



yS THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

teachers' reading circle and the reading of the books 
prescribed therein. What professional standing could a 
lawyer hope to attain or maintain, who would ignore the 
demands of his profession, pay no attention to the latest 
court reports and judicial decisions, and then attempt to 
justify such action and neglect on his part by the interest 
he might have in a course of reading of a general literary 
character? Such a lawyer would soon be without clients. 
Any physician who would similarly ignore the demands of 
his profession, and who would cease to inform himself upon 
the latest discoveries in medical science and the prevention 
or cure of diseases, would soon cease to practice medicine 
because of a lack of patients. Unfortunately, the teachers 
who take no interest in their professional growth and 
improvement and who ignore such reading and study as 
are necessary to such growth and improvement, are per- 
mitted in too many instances to continue their practice 
on the poor children who are not permitted to choose their 
teachers as clients and patients are permitted to choose 
their lawyers and physicians. Many professional people, 
including teachers, so economize their time as to enable 
them to pursue both professional and general courses of 
reading and thereby not only insure their professional 
growth and improvement, but also guard against a type 
of narrowness and bigotry which sometimes characterize 
those who never read or think outside of their special work. 
Occasionally teachers will plead financial inability to 
purchase the required books as an excuse for their failure 
to engage in the work of the teachers' reading circle. 
In view of the low salaries received by most teachers, this 
excuse seems, at first thought, to be worthy of some 



THE teachers' READING CIRCLE 79 

consideration. As a rule, it is imperative that teachers 
exercise the most rigid economy in all their expenses. 
There are always many things which they would like to do 
and in which they could engage with both pleasure and 
profit, but which are denied to them, because of an expense 
which they cannot afford. But there are some things which 
no teacher who desires to grow and to improve can afford 
not to do. Certainly no teacher, unless under financial 
stress due to circumstances beyond control, can afford not 
to add to his own library each year a few good books to be 
made a part of his life equipment by careful reading and 
study. 

The most unreasonable excuse offered by teachers for 
failure to read systematically and persistently is lack of 
time. It is true that teachers are busy people, that they 
often have unusual demands made upon their time and 
strength, and that they have numerous and varied duties 
to perform. It is also true that, with proper organization 
and system in connection with their work, under normal 
conditions all reasonable demands can be promptly met 
and all necessary duties satisfactorily performed, and some 
time be saved each day to be used in reading and study 
for self-improvement. It is the privilege and duty of all 
teachers so to plan their work in the school and for the 
school as to insure at least an hour or two each day for such 
reading and study. If the determination so to plan is 
sufficiently strong and persistent, satisfactory results will 
invariably follow. In the following allotment of time, 
each need of the day is liberally provided for. 

A good daily program. — For teaching, six hours ; plan- 
ning and preparing the lessons to be taught, three hours; 



8o THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

meals, eating and healthful relaxation following, three 
hours ; sleep, eight hours ; resting, recreation, and exercise, 
two hours ; — in all twenty- two hours. 

This leaves two hours each day which can be and should 
be used by the teacher for self-improvement. The teacher's 
program should devote these hours to reading and study 
with the same regularity and persistence as other hours are 
devoted to teaching, planning and preparing lessons, eating, 
sleeping, resting, and exercise, and nothing but dire neces- 
sity should be permitted to interfere with this program. 
Teachers, like all other individuals who desire to grow, 
must have a definite plan for reading and study, and they 
must stick to it. 

The truth is that no profession, vocation, or calling 
furnishes better opportunities for self-improvement by 
means of reading and study than the opportunities which 
come to the teacher. In addition to the time which can 
be saved and utilized for such purpose each day, the weekly 
Saturday vacation day and the months of at least partial 
leisure, which come with the summer vacation, will be 
carefully improved by all teachers who are really in earnest 
in their efforts to become better equipped for their work. 
In the majority of instances, it will be found that all 
teachers who have attained a high degree of success owe 
such success in a large measure to private reading and 
study. 

There is always time. — Really busy people, in any walk 
of life, seldom excuse themselves for a failure to perform 
duty by pleading a lack of time. They are the people 
who usually can and do find time for the many duties 
imposed upon them. They are usually the first to respond 



THE teachers' reading CIRCLE 8l 

to the demands of the church, the community, and the 
3tate. Men and women who have nothing to do are 
usually so busy doing nothing that it is useless to ask 
them to do anything. 

A young colored student who was about to graduate 
from a theological seminary, in a letter to the young woman 
whom he intended to marry, described himself as follows : 

**I am a gentleman of leisure, floating upon the waves of cir- 
cumstance. My life, like the remainder of my race, is one constant, 
monotonous, multiplicity of recapitulated nothingness." 

Such persons are not confined to the colored race. It is 
pitifully true that there are some teachers whose lives, in 
so far as any systematic attempt at growth or improvement 
is concerned, are also " one constant, monotonous, multi- 
plicity of recapitulated nothingness." Such teachers are 
never able to find time to read or to study. 

Instead of offering excuses for failure to join in the 
work of the teachers' reading circle, all teachers who really 
desire to grow in knowledge and wisdom quickly recognize 
the benefits which come from reading carefully selected 
books, along with other teachers. They keenly realize 
the value of companionship in their reading and thinking 
and they, therefore, eagerly take advantage of the oppor- 
tunity, afforded by membership in a good reading circle, 
to talk over what has been read and to exchange ideas 
regarding the views and sentiments expressed by the author 
of the book under consideration. 

How to read a book so as to get from it the largest amount 
of useful information and lofty inspiration and, in the 
getting, to develop right habits of thought and study, 

OUR PUB. S. 6 



82 THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

merits careful consideration by all teachers who value the 
privilege of reading for self -improvement. Gratitude for 
the helpful suggestions and wise directions given by a 
friend to a young teacher of a country school many years 
ago, relative to his reading, coupled with an earnest 
desire to pass on these suggestions and directions to other 
teachers and students, prompts the writing of the following 
paragraphs which briefly summarize a valuable experience 
in the life of that teacher. 

This friend was the late Honorable Le Roy D. Brown, 
who at one time served as State Commissioner of Schools 
in Ohio, but who at the time referred to was superintendent 
of schools in Eaton, Ohio. The young teacher was much 
surprised, somewhat pleased, and not a little embarrassed 
to receive an invitation from the superintendent of the 
county seat schools to take dinner with him when attending 
a meeting of the county teachers' association. What was 
served for dinner and the method of disposing of it, whether 
in accord with the most approved etiquette of the day or 
not, has long since passed out of mind, but the '' after 
dinner " conversation which took place in the library will 
never be forgotten. The young teacher still vividly recalls 
the impression made upon him by the large number of 
well-selected books which bore their own evidence of hav- 
ing been carefully read and thoughtfully studied. This 
evidence was seen in the copious notes and comments neatly 
recorded on the blank pages of the different volumes. 

After a brief inspection of the library, Mr. Brown, with a 
directness of purpose which characterized him in a marked 
way, asked the young teacher what he was reading. The 
question was as embarrassing to him then as it would be 



THE teachers' READING CIRCLE 83 

to too many teachers to-day — not alone to teachers of the 
country schools but to some teachers of the grades in the 
towns and cities, and to others who like to be called '' pro- 
fessor " in the high schools. 

The embarrassment was due to the simple fact that 
truthfulness compelled the young teacher to reply that he 
was not reading much of anything, upon which humiliating 
confession, Mr. Brown proceeded to urge upon his youth- 
ful guest the absolute necessity of systematic reading and 
study of some of the best books as an essential means of 
growth and development, and the absolute certainty of 
intellectual decay, if such reading and study were not 
persisted in. This earnest appeal to read the best books 
was supplemented by some valuable suggestions as to how 
to read them, which may be briefly outlined as follows : 

1. Always read with pencil and notebook at hand. 

2. Neatly mark in the book which is being read, each suggestive 
statement of fact, important reference or conclusion, or beautiful 
sentiment, which specially arouses interest, arrests thought, or 
challenges attention, with number of page on which each is 
found, and record in notebook by means of some brief notation 
which will be intelligible in subsequent reviews of the book. 
Of course, this suggestion implies that the book read has 
something in it worth marking and noting, and that the reader 
has a sufficient amount of intelligence and concentration of 
mind to discover the things which are worth while. 

3. Carefully review the book thus read from the markings and 
notes made, and then record in ink, on the blank leaves found 
in the volume, the revised notes resulting from such reviev/. 

Experience teaches that to carry out these suggestions 
with any degree of completeness books must be read with 
thoughtful care and reasonable time be given to the reading. 



84 THE teacher's growth and surplus 

There is, perhaps, an occasional genius who can take in a 
page at a glance and quickly assimilate all the mental food 
which a volume contains. But ordinary folks, such as 
most of us are, need to form the habit of reading slowly 
and meditatively in order that the mental digestive 
apparatus may properly '^ function." By no means is 
it to be inferred that there should be no reading for mere 
pastime or restful recreation. All brain toilers, especially 
teachers whose work is peculiarly exhausting, should some- 
times read books which require little thought but which are, 
nevertheless, uplifting in their moral tone and helpful in the 
optimistic view of life which they present. Fortunately 
such books are to be found and they should have a place 
in every teacher's library. 

Book ownership. — To read as suggested also necessitates 
that the reader own the books which he reads ; for, of 
course, no one who really appreciates the courtesy of the 
loan of a book will either mark it or keep it. While access 
to good public libraries should always be taken advantage 
of and should be highly appreciated by teachers who must 
depend upon such libraries for the use of many books of 
reference and other volumes which they cannot afford to 
purchase or may not care to own, it is doubtful whether 
any teacher will ever grow strong on the reading of bor- 
rowed books. The teacher of real power is never the book- 
less teacher. 



VI 
TEACHERS' INSTITUTES 

THE teachers' institute furnishes another valuable 
opportunity for the professional growth and self- 
improvement of teachers. Originally the chief 
purpose of the institute was to supplement the academic 
training of teachers. In the fulfillment of this purpose, it 
was really a type of extension school for the better educa- 
tion of such teachers as had not enjoyed the advantages 
furnished by a good school. Often this extension school 
was in session for several weeks and the entire time was 
devoted to the preparation and recitation of regularly as- 
signed lessons in the branches required for a common school 
certificate. Later on the institute was held for a shorter 
period, and while the subjects taught in the common schools 
were still given the larger part of the attention of instructors, 
a new emphasis was placed upon the method of teaching 
these subjects in the schools. To-day the institute is held 
for only a week, or, in some states, for only a day or two, 
and the purpose is no longer informational, either in knowl- 
edge or method, but inspirational. 

In several states, attendance upon teachers' institutes 
is no longer optional with the teacher, but compulsory. In 
such states, the teachers are paid from ten to twenty dollars 
for the w^eek's attendance, and, in at least one state (Penn- 
sylvania) a teacher who fails to attend and who has no 

85 



86 THE teacher's growth and surplus 

valid excuse for such failure, forfeits not only the payment 
for the week's attendance but also an additional equal 
amount in deduction of salary for the month succeeding 
the institute. 

Do teachers' institutes pay? — It is occasionally asked 
whether the teachers' institute pays professionally ; whether 
the benefits received warrant the outlay made. No really 
earnest, progressive, professional, studious, growing teacher 
is in any doubt on this point. To such a teacher a good 
institute is a source of life and inspiration. It may not 
always be possible to enumerate in a specific manner the 
benefits which have been gained by attendance upon the 
institute. But thousands of teachers of long experience 
will bear testimony as to the help derived from such at- 
tendance ; to the feeling that they cannot well go through the 
hard work of the school year without the inspiration that 
always comes, not only from the work of the instructors 
and the other exercises of the regular program, but also 
from the sympathetic association with other teachers, 
whose aims and purposes and ambitions and difficulties 
are identical with their own. 

The value of teachers' institutes, the type of the men 
and women who should give instruction in them, and the 
benefits to teachers who attend them, as viewed by a teacher 
of long and successful experience, who is, therefore, qualified 
to speak with authority, are well described in the following : 

"I feel sure the county institute furnishes the best means for 
maintaining the esprit de corps of the teachers of a county. The 
summer school, valuable as it is, cannot do this. 

"The instructors at institutes ought to be, and generally are, men 
and women of larger experience and broader educational views than 



teachers' institutes 87 

the average teacher. To be in touch with such instructors for a 
week or more is an inspiration to study and growth which result in 
better teaching, and professional advancement logically follows." 

Who are most benefited ? — To the inexperienced teach- 
ers, the institute should be, and when properly managed, 
directed, and instructed, always is a positive help in the 
suggestions which come from the instructors, who should 
always keep in mind the needs of such teachers, and who 
should always be men and women who speak out of real 
experience in the actual work of the schoolroom. Any 
one who has never had such experience or who has forgot- 
ten the difficulties and perplexities which characterized the 
first years of his experience as a teacher, cannot hope to be 
of much service to those who most need help and sympathy. 

Inexperienced teachers can also secure great benefit from 
association in the institute with those who have been over 
the road, who know all about its rough places, and who have 
earned the right to be called the " leading teachers " of 
their county. Such teachers should find their greatest joy 
in mingling with their younger associates in the work, in 
making them feel at home in the institute, in giving to them 
freely the lessons which experience has taught, and in help- 
ing them in every way possible. To all such teachers there 
will come a full realization of the meaning of ''It is more 
blessed to give than to receive." 

The institute instructor. — To those who instruct in the 
teachers' institute, there comes a responsibility which is 
great as well as an opportunity which is unusual. The 
message to be given should be carefully thought out and 
felt out. It should come from a head which is clear in its 
thinking and from a heart which is warm with a burning 



88 THE teacher's growth and surplus 

desire to be really helpful to teachers of all classes. It 
should never contain a recital of visionary theories of edu- 
cation, which have resulted from a " brain storm " on the 
part of some impractical " professor " who could not suc- 
cessfully teach or superintend a real school for a single day ; 
or an account of foolish experiments in some mysterious 
realm of the psychic world, which have been performed by 
some one in a " research laboratory " ; or an attempt to 
make an impossible application of some alleged peda- 
gogical principle, which common sense at once recog- 
nizes as being ridiculous in conception and impossible of 
execution. Destructive criticism, which always deadens, 
should find no place in thought or expression. Courage 
and hope should be the keynote of the work of the session. 
What teachers need is encouragement in working toward 
the realization of high ideals which appeal to their judg- 
ment as being possible of realization, and not criticism of 
everything which they have done or hoped to do. They 
need to be inspired to nobler efforts, not made despondent 
by the recital of pretended but absolutely false achieve- 
ments. They need to be encouraged to do their best, to 
magnify the importance of their own personalities, and to 
work out in so far as possible their own salvation, by over- 
coming difficulties which are certain to arise. They should 
not be discouraged with the thought that the admission 
of difficulty always indicates weakness and that, if they 
were only strong enough, there would be no difficulties to 
overcome. They need a joyous enthusiasm to work with 
and for their pupils ; not a knowledge of some dark and 
mysterious philosophy or psychology which will lead them 
to question whether they are really here on earth with large 



teachers' institutes 89 

responsibilities which, at times, seem hard to bear, but with 
accompanying opportunities for service which should fill 
their souls with gratitude and their lives with joy. 

To bring to teachers some such hope, encouragement, 
enthusiasm, and inspiration should be the purpose of every 
teachers' institute, and to work for the realization of this 
purpose, officers, teachers, and instructors should unite all 
their energies and efforts. 

Abolition of the teachers' institute. — Notwithstanding 
the fact that the teachers' institute has proved its worth 
as a means of professional growth and inspiration in the 
life of teachers, and that this worth is fully recognized by 
the best teachers in all sections of the land, there is an occa- 
sional attempt to abolish it entirely or to make its contin- 
uance optional with the board of education or some other 
school authority. The causes leading to the final or optional 
discontinuance of the teachers' institute in a very few states 
constitute an interesting study which cannot, in this con- 
nection, be entered into in detail. In one instance, at least, 
the teachers' institute has been abolished largely because 
of the intense dissatisfaction of the teachers with the method 
used in its management by the " state machine," which 
seemed to pay little or no heed to the needs or demands of 
the teachers for whose benefit the institute should always 
be planned and carried on. 

As a rule, however, the attempt to discontinue the teach- 
ers' institute, either by direct or indirect means, does not 
originate with the teachers, but with outside critics of 
various types. These are often characterized by little or 
no knowledge of what the real purpose of an institute should 
be, of what it has accomplished in the past, or is attempting 



go THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

to do now, and they are actuated, in too many instances, 
by purely selfish motives. 

Objectors and critics. — Of course, there are a few people 
who are opposed to teachers' institutes because of the cost 
of their maintenance and especially on account of the small 
amount paid to the teachers for attending them. Such 
objections should be eliminated from the consideration of 
the merits of the institute precisely as similar objections 
should always be ignored in the consideration of any 
measure for the betterment of the teachers and the schools. 
Money is the only measure of value known to some people. 
To attempt to convince such people that an institute has 
a value to teachers not measured by the money standard 
is useless. 

The severest critics of institutes are so-called " educators " 
who are sometimes professors in colleges of education or 
other departments in universities, and who are unable, 
because of a lack of anything of value to say, to appear be- 
fore an audience of teachers and patrons of the schools and 
say anything which will arouse interest or command atten- 
tion. The audience is always blamed for the failure, and 
the stock criticism follows that the audience, because of a 
lack of intelligence to comprehend the wonderful wisdom 
and the learned discussion of the speaker, does not " react." 
It never seems to occur to such faultfinders that there can 
be no reaction without action, and that the two are always 
equal. 

These would-be institute instructors, who are without a 
message, and who try to conceal their lack of anything to 
say by an attempt to say it in " pedaguese " instead of 
English, soon develop into the second stage of complaining. 



teachers' institutes 91 

They condemn all institute instructors who really command 
a hearing because of a real message, delivered in a manner 
which is effective, as mere " entertainers " whose '' per- 
formances " unfit an audience to listen to a '' logical dis- 
cussion of a serious question." Their final spasm of criti- 
cism comes when they no longer receive any response to 
their persistent and urgent appeals to be permitted to lecture 
in the institutes, and manifests itself in an outburst of 
contempt for all that the institute represents or does, and 
by the claim that they would not lower their official dignity 
nor risk their reputation for scholarship by descending to 
the low plane of talking to such ignorant and uncultured 
audiences. It is such as they who have pronounced the 
teachers' institute a failure. 

It is gratifying in this connection to call attention to the 
many rare men and women, connected with the higher 
educational institutions, who are in no way affected with 
the snobbery which is unfortunately too common in many 
such institutions. Their scholarship is both broad and 
accurate and their training both wide and deep. Their 
heads are filled with sane ideas which they can express in 
language understandable by the common people. Their 
experience in both school and life is rich. Their hearts are 
full of sympathy. Such men and women, instead of con- 
demning the institute as a failure, consider it one of the 
greatest agencies in existence for the betterment of the 
pubKc schools through the upKft which it gives to both 
the teachers and the patrons. 

Another class of opponents of teachers' institutes is com- 
posed of persons who have heard some of the meaningless 
jargon which is sometimes inflicted upon those in attend- 



92 THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

ance, and with some degree of justice conclude that the 
institute is of no real value and should, therefore, be dis- 
continued. Their mistake is due to the erroneous conclu- 
sion that all instruction is of the meaningless kind which 
they have been unfortunate enough to hear. There would 
be as much reason in a proposal to discontinue all schools, 
because there are some poor teachers, as in a demand to dis- 
continue teachers' institutes, because there are some in- 
efficient instructors. 

The claim is sometimes made that with the coming of 
better educated and better trained teachers, the value of 
the institute passes, and that it should, therefore, be dis- 
continued. If the education and training which teachers 
are now receiving produce a class of teachers who think 
that they are finished products with no need of further 
self-improvement and professional growth, and who are 
thoroughly satisfied with themselves and their work, then 
the less we have of such education and training the better 
for the schools. Education and training of the right type 
never produce such teachers. The better teachers are pre- 
pared for their work, the more they feel the need of that 
uphfting and inspiriting influence which a well-conducted 
teachers' institute suppHes. Just as the best-trained min- 
isters, lawyers, and physicians are most anxious to meet in 
conferences and associations for the consideration of the 
betterment of their profession in order that they may re- 
ceive the help that comes from attendance upon such meet- 
ings, so the best- trained teachers most readily respond to 
the call of the teachers' institute. Because of their superior 
education and training, such teachers are always glad of 
an opportunity to attend all such meetings, and those who 



teachers' institutes 93 

are not truly professional should be compelled to attend or 
to cease pretending to do a work for which no education or 
training can ever fit them. 

The teachers' institute, as now conducted in some states 
and as it should be conducted in all states, is a most impor- 
tant factor not only in providing a means of professional 
growth for teachers but also in creating and maintaining 
an interest in the welfare of the public schools on the part 
of the parents. Through such an institute a most effective 
appeal can be made for the much-desired cooperation be- 
tween the home and the school and for the development of 
a school sentiment which will sustain that " community 
interest " of which so much is heard and for which so little 
is really done. An institute which thus touches the inter- 
ests and meets the needs of both teachers and patrons, and 
thereby helps to create and to direct educational thought 
and sentiment is in reality a most efficient means of public 
school extension. As such it is certainly worthy of the 
official recognition and financial support of both state and 
local educational authorities. Pubhc school extension is 
at least equal in importance to university extension, which 
is now recognized as a large factor in the work of higher 
education. 

Other agencies for growth. — In addition to the county 
teachers' institute, there are various other important meet- 
ings of teachers, such as the local institute, the county or 
city teachers' association, district and state and national 
associations. Professional teachers welcome all these 
agencies for growth and improvement and in so far as pos- 
sible give them their cordial support. In the smaller meet- 
ings there is found the opportunity to form an intimate 



94 THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

acquaintance, each with the work of the other, which is 
beneficial to all, while in the larger meetings, such as district, 
state, or national, there is obtained that larger acquaintance 
and broader vision so necessary for growth and develop- 
ment. 

In the summer schools, which are so largely attended, 
and which are usually in charge of good instructors, teachers 
find another excellent opportunity for that systematic and 
continuous study which is a most important factor in their 
self-improvement and professional growth. In such schools 
many teachers complete their college course and thus fit 
themselves for promotion in both position and salary. 
The custom of some boards of education of placing a pre- 
mium upon attendance at summer schools by providing for 
an additional increase in salary for all teachers who attend, 
is worthy of both commendation and imitation. 

There are always some teachers, however, who should 
neither be required nor encouraged to attend summer 
schools. Their work during the school year shows, both by 
the manner in which it is done and by the results secured, 
that they are devoted students of the subjects taught and 
of the best methods of teaching them. To many such 
earnest and successful teachers, attendance at a summer 
school would result in more harm than good. During 
their vacation they should endeavor to dismiss all thought 
of school and formal study from their minds and should 
spend the time in rest and recreation. Perhaps, some day 
some one possessed with a large supply of common sense 
and high ideals of justice will devise some plan by means 
of which the much-coveted " credits," now obtainable only 
by a formal study of the theory of education in a school of 



teachers' institutes 95 

pedagogy, may be obtained without such formal study by 
real teachers who are intelligently studying and successfully 
solving the real problems of the real schools which they 
daily teach. Every one who is well informed as to educa- 
tional conditions knows that there are many such teachers 
in every county of every state in the Union. They are 
usually the source of much of the information upon which 
reports of educational progress and the discussion of methods 
in education are based, and are not infrequently better in- 
formed in educational theory and more thoroughly trained 
in educational practice than the teachers to whom they 
would be compelled to go to secure formal credits for their 
work. 

Travel. — Unfortunately, the low salary paid to most 
teachers in the public schools prohibits them from taking 
advantage of one of the most effective means of growth 
and development, viz. travel. Only those who have seen 
something of the world in all its vast and varied interests 
can realize how the horizon of the teacher enlarges, his 
vision expands, and his powers develop with even an occa- 
sional opportunity to look beyond the narrow limits of the 
county or state in which he teaches. Colleges and univer- 
sities recognize the value and importance of this agency 
in the Hfe and growth of their teachers by instituting the 
" sabbatical year " in which a leave of absence is granted, 
for the purpose of travel and study, with sufficient salary 
to make possible the acceptance of the courtesy by all to 
whom it is offered. 

Is it too much to hope that the future will produce a new 
type of philanthropist who, out of genuine gratitude for 
what the public schools have done for him, and with a vision 



96 THE teacher's growth and surplus 

of what he can do in return for the pubHc schools, will show 
his gratitude and make possible the realization of his vision 
by providing the necessary funds to send worthy public 
school teachers upon an occasional excursion or voyage in 
quest of renewed health, enlarged enthusiasm, and new 
ideas? An occasional generous gift for this purpose has 
already been made and lends encouragement to the hope 
that in the near future large donations for the benefit of 
public schools will be even more common than are similar 
bequests to colleges and universities at the present time. 

Is it unreasonable to expect that some day wars will cease 
because preparation for wholesale murder will have ceased, 
and that, as a result, the billions of money now worse than 
wasted in the barbarities of inhuman and inexcusable war- 
fare or in preparation for a fanciful security against it, can 
be saved for public education, thereby making possible the 
payment of sufficient salaries to enable the teachers in the 
public schools to secure such benefits of travel as will en- 
rich their own lives and the lives of their pupils ? 

The future safety of our republic depends in no small 
measure upon the character of the instruction given in its 
public schools ; the character of this instruction depends 
largely upon the character of the teachers, and the charac- 
ter of the teachers depends in a large measure upon their 
growth in all that makes for a larger and better intellectual 
and spiritual life. To the promotion of this growth every 
teacher's life should be devoted and the energies of all who 
love the public schools should be directed. 



VII 
PHYSICAL VITALITY AND MENTAL GROWTH 

AS a growing financial surplus, the result of wise busi- 
ness management, tends to create and maintain 
confidence in the stability of a commercial enter- 
prise on the part of those who have money to invest, so an 
increasing surplus of teaching power, the result of personal 
growth and self-improvement, tends to create and main- 
tain confidence in the success of teachers on the part of 
those who have children to educate. It should, therefore, 
be the constant aim and determined purpose of all teachers 
to accumulate such a surplus as will insure the confidence 
of parents in the efficiency of the school and the respect of 
pupils for the competency of the teacher. 

Physical vitality. — It is becoming more apparent each 
year that good health is an important factor towards suc- 
cess in all vocations or professions. It is safe to say that in 
the near future the physical examinations which prospective 
teachers will be required to pass will be such as to exclude 
from the ranks all who are not supplied with a reasonable 
amount of physical vitality. Such examinations will serve 
two purposes — first, the protection of the children in the 
schools against the possibility of the contagion of ill health 
and the incompetency and irritability so apt to result from 
the poor health of teachers ; and second, the protection 
of persons lacking in physical strength from a complete 

OUR PUB. s. — 7 97 



gS THE teacher's growth and surplus 

loss of health so certain to result from an attempt to teach 
without sufficient vigor to endure the strain. 

Notwithstanding the fact that in all communities there 
can still be found some people who look upon teaching as 
a sinecure, an easy task really without care, with few hours, 
short days, and long vacations, all who know what teaching 
actually means in preparation and what it requires in both 
physical and mental effort, recognize that in no work of 
any kind are there greater difficulties to meet than in the 
work of teaching ; in no place are there graver responsi- 
bilities to assume than in the schoolroom. 

Live teaching is exhausting to nervous energy and is a 
constant drain on life itself. Not a few teachers who spent 
their early years on a farm, at a time when the working day 
had no limitations as to length except dawn and dusk, can 
testify that mauling rails from daylight to dark is not nearly 
so tiresome to body or mind as " splitting hairs " in the 
schoolroom for five or six hours a day. This is especially 
true if the " hair splitting " is due to the lack of apprecia- 
tion or understanding of hypercritical parents who fail to 
recognize the difficulty of school problems and their own 
ignorance of how such problems should be solved. It is, 
therefore, imperative that all teachers who aspire to the 
highest success should make such success possible by con- 
serving in every available way their physical strength in 
order that they may accumulate a surplus of physical vital- 
ity with which to meet the emergencies which are certain 
to arise in the work of the school. 

Examination papers. — To aid in the accumulation of 
this surplus, all such drudgery as marking papers should be 
reduced to a minimum. In some schools there is a tend- 



PHYSICAL VITALITY AND MENTAL GROWTH 99 

ency to require so much written work that teachers are 
compelled either to give little attention to the mass of writ- 
ten material handed in to them by pupils or to exhaust 
their physical and mental life in the drudgery of examining 
it. If critical attention is not given by the teacher to both 
the form and the content of the written work of the pupils, 
such neglect soon becomes known. Instead of the exact- 
ness which writing is presumed to produce, carelessness on 
the part of the pupils, who have discovered that much of 
their written work is never even looked at, is certain to 
result. On the other hand, if a large amount of written 
work is critically examined by the teacher, no time is left 
for the rest and recreation so essential to both physical and 
mental life and vigor. As a result, there is a deficiency in- 
stead of a surplus in the teacher's vitality. No teacher can 
long devote many hours either day or night to such drudg- 
ery and do justice to the important work of the school. 

When examinations or other exercises necessitating a 
large amount of written work are required, pupils should 
remain in school in the forenoon for only such time as is 
necessary to complete the work assigned, and should then 
be excused for the remainder of the day. After they have 
been so excused, teachers can be free to give their undivided 
attention to the task of marking papers — an important 
piece of school work which should be done in the school- 
room during school hours. Under no circumstances should 
teachers be compelled to hold examinations all day and then 
devote half the night, or perhaps the vacation period, to the 
work of grading manuscripts, thereby unfitting themselves 
for the schoolroom activities which are to follow. 

Boards of education and the patrons whom they represent 



lOO THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

will readily indorse and cordially support this plan when its 
purpose is explained to them ; and, since even the lazy and 
indifferent are incHned to do a Httle studying at home in the 
examination season, no loss to pupils will result. 

The importance of a reasonable amount of written work, 
carefully done by pupils and carefully examined by teach- 
ers, is recognized by all. An excess of such work, how- 
ever, will always result in positive injury to both pupils and 
teachers, not alone in the evils already named, but also in a 
loss of the positive benefits which result from the oral recita- 
tion properly conducted. The so-called written recitation 
cannot be indulged in to any great extent without neglecting 
the important work of training pupils to think on their feet 
and to express their thoughts orally with accuracy and 
fluency. Written questions prepared by the teacher, to 
which answers are written by the pupils, may guarantee a 
recitation hour of quiet and order, but the quiet is sug- 
gestive of death and the order calls to mind the cemetery. 

What a recitation should be. — The oral recitation prop- 
erly directed by a competent teacher glows with life. In 
such a recitation interest is aroused, thought is provoked, 
the mind is informed, and the power of expression is de- 
veloped. At the close of such a recitation, pupils know 
that something of real value has been accomplished, and 
teachers are not burdened by the sight of stacks of written 
material to which many tedious hours must be devoted to 
determine what has been done by the pupils in the recita- 
tion hour. In many schools, the elimination of a large 
amount of the Ufeless written work together with the sub- 
stitution in its stead of oral teaching by live teachers and 
oral reciting by live pupils, would result in much more sub- 



PHYSICAL VITALITY AND MENTAL GROWTH lOI 

stantial progress by the children and a growing surplus of 
physical life for the teachers. 

Habits to be avoided. — Not a few teachers become ad- 
dicted to what may be termed the keeping-in-at-recess-or- 
after-school habit and thereby greatly diminish their sur- 
plus of physical vitality. While there may be an occa- 
sional need to detain pupils at recess or after school hours 
for the purpose of study or instruction, usually the teachers 
who depend upon such means to secure the necessary prep- 
aration of lessons succeed only in gaining the enmity of 
their pupils and in wearing themselves out in body, mind, 
and spirit. While keeping in at recess or after school may 
occasionally be the natural punishment for some offense 
committed by a child, as a rule, teachers who resort to such 
a punishment for every little act of misbehavior will soon 
find that they, themselves, suffer more than the children, 
in being deprived of the benefits of full recesses and prompt 
dismissals. In the majority of instances, a large number 
of pupils kept in at recess and after school indicates ineffi- 
cient teaching and poor discipline. 

It is the custom of some teachers, who are not victims of 
the habit of keeping the children in after school hours, to 
remain in the schoolroom after dismissal to prepare the 
lessons and to arrange the work of the next day Usually 
the atmosphere of the schoolroom and the physical condi- 
tion of the teacher, at the close of the day, are such as to 
make it impossible to do work of any kind in an efficient 
manner. It would be well for the health of all such teachers 
if they were compelled to vacate their schoolrooms when 
the day's work is completed, to take exercise in the open air, 
and thus to create an appetite for the evening meal and 



I02 THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

to develop physical conditions favorable to a good night's 
rest, one of the most essential factors in maintaining a sur- 
plus of physical vitality and mental vigor. 

Sleep. — " How long should a teacher sleep? " was once 
found in the question box of a teachers' institute, directed 
to an instructor whose life had been devoted to the work of 
education and whose long and varied experience included 
practically all phases of school work, from teaching a coun- 
try school to a professorship in a large university. " Just 
as long as it tastes good " was the immediate and smiling 
reply of this instructor, a man of rare ability and unusually 
successful experience, since then the superintendent of 
schools of one of the largest cities of the United States, and 
afterward the chief executive of his native commonwealth. 

To sleep " just as long as it tastes good " is always a safe 
guide to follow and one which can be followed without diffi- 
culty by teachers under all ordinary circumstances and 
conditions. Nothing which can be controlled should ever 
be permitted to interfere with a teacher's sleep, and the 
" meal of sleep " should always begin early enough in the 
night to insure that the " taste " will be satisfied early 
enough in the morning to enable the teacher to get up at 
a reasonable hour, to eat breakfast in a civilized manner, 
and to get to school not on time, but always ahead of time. 
The teachers who are ahead of time at school in the morn- 
ing usually keep ahead of the school work throughout the 
entire day. Such teachers have a great advantage over those 
who hurry to school, perhaps arrive a few minutes late, 
and never quite catch up with the work of the day. For 
the purpose of preparation for the work which is to follow, 
a half hour in the morning before school opens, when the 



PHYSICAL VITALITY AND MENTAL GEOWTH IO3 

atmosphere of the schoolroom is pure, the teacher's body 
rested and brain clear, is worth hours of time in the evening 
when the opposite conditions prevail. 

To leave the schoolroom as soon as possible after the 
day's duties have been performed and to return to it early 
enough in the morning to give ample time to prepare for 
the work of the day is a good rule for all teachers to follow 
and one which should have very few exceptions. Obedience 
to this rule will greatly aid in economizing strength and 
in accumulating a surplus of vitality. 

Borrowing trouble. — In many instances, however, need- 
less worry rather than necessary work constitutes the great- 
est drain upon the life of the teacher. It is, therefore, im- 
perative that all causes of needless worry be eliminated 
so far as possible in order that health be conserved and a 
surplus of vitality be accumulated. When worry is due to 
poor health, teachers owe it to themselves as well as to their 
pupils to use every known means to improve their health 
and thereby increase their efficiency. If the worry is 
caused by a lack of confidence, which is the result of a lack 
of preparation to teach, usually the surest and quickest 
means of relief will be found in attending school until the 
needed preparation is secured. If the source of the worry is 
found in a failure to interest the pupils in their work, and 
this failure is due to an unwillingness of the teacher to pay 
the price of success in the daily preparation which is neces- 
sary, then the only hope of relief which can come to such 
a teacher is found either in regeneration or resignation. 

There are, however, many well-prepared, studious, grow- 
ing, earnest, and progressive teachers, who are the victims 
of worry. In the majority of instances this worry, as it 



I04 THE TEACHER S GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

applies to their experience, may be defined as " trouble 
which never happens," but which seems to be about to hap- 
pen much of the time. The futility of such worry on the 
part of others is always easily recognized. But to elim- 
inate it from one's own life is not always an easy task. 
The absurdity of " borrowing trouble," on which a high 
rate of interest in the form of anxiety and nervous strain 
must always be promptly paid, is shown in the following 
good-humored stanzas from the pen of Sam Walter Foss, 
whose sane philosophy of everyday life has helped all who 
have read his poems. 

"The sun's heat will give out in ten million years more, 

And he worried about it. 
It Vvill sure give out then, if it doesn't before, 

And he worried about it. 
It will surely give out, so the scientists said 
In all the scientifical books he had read. 
And the whole boundless universe then will be dead. 

And he worried about it. 

"And some day the earth will fall into the sun, 

And he worried about it. 
Just as sure and as straight as if shot from a gun. 

And he worried about it. 
'When strong gravitation unbuckles her straps. 
Just picture,' he said, 'what a fearful collapse ! 
It will come in a few million ages, perhaps,' 

And he worried about it. 

"And the earth will become much too small for the race, 

And he worried about it. 
When we'll pay thirty dollars an inch for pure space, 

And he worried about it. 
The earth will be crowded so much, without doubt. 
There won't be room for one's tongue to stick out, 



PHYSICAL VITALITY AND MENTAL GROWTH IO5 

Nor room for one's thoughts to wander about, 
And he worried about it. 

''And the Guh' Stream will curve and New England grow torrider, 

And he worried about it, 
Than was ever the climate of southernmost Florida, 

And he worried about it. 
Our ice crop will be knocked into small smithereens, 
And crocodiles block up our mowing machines. 
And we'll lose our fine crop of potatoes and beans, 

And he worried about it. 

"And in less than ten thousand years, there's no doubt, 

And he worried about it. 
Our supply of lumber and coal will give out, 

And he worried about it. 
Just then the ice age will return cold and raw, 
Frozen men will stand stiff with arms outstretched in awe, 
As if vainly beseeching a general thaw, 

And he worried about it." ^ 

In some instances teachers, in common with other types 
of humanity, permit themselves to dwell so constantly 
upon the few unpleasant experiences connected with their 
daily work, that they lose sight of the far larger number of 
pleasant experiences which always result from a cheerful 
performance of regular duties. In brooding over their 
troubles in the schoolroom, they forget '^ to count their 
blessings." The annoyance caused by the misbehavior of 
one disobedient boy occupies so large a place in their thought 
that no room is left for the joy which should result from the 
knowledge that a score of other boys are always obedient 
and well behaved. The failure of a small minority to do 
well in their studies looms up so large that the success of 

^ From "Whiffs from Wild Meadows." Copyright, 1898, by Lee and 
Shepard. Used by permission of Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Company. 



I06 THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

the majority is entirely forgotten. Teachers who con- 
stantly magnify their troubles and minimize their joys, 
and who emphasize their hindrances rather than their helps, 
usually develop a habit of worrying, which soon renders 
them unfit for efficient service. A tendency to worry for 
any reason should be resisted with all the force at the com- 
mand of the teacher. If persisted in, health is certain to 
be undermined and efficiency greatly decreased. 

With written work reduced to the minimum amount 
really essential to the needs of the pupils; with exami- 
nations and other written exercises conducted in such a 
manner that the resulting work for the teacher can be done 
in school hours ; with the keeping-in-after-school habit 
abolished whenever possible; with sufficient exercise in 
the open air to counteract the enervating confinement of 
the schoolroom ; with sufficient sleep to renew bodily and 
mental vigor ; and with the cultivation of a spirit of cheer- 
fulness, which will tend to dwell upon sources of encour- 
agement rather than discouragement, teachers can hope 
to lay up such a surplus of physical vitality as will enable 
them to meet the emergencies which are certain to arise in 
their work. 

Mental vigor. — Teachers who make use of the means of 
professional growth and self-improvement will gradually 
accumulate a surplus of mental vigor which always charac- 
terizes the permanently successful teacher. While the 
amount of capital invested in knowledge and training, with 
which teachers begin their work, is an important factor in 
their equipment, it is absolutely essential to their continued 
success that this capital be made effective by an ever in- 
creasing accumulation of knowledge and an ever enlarging 



PHYSICAL VITALITY AND MENTAL GROWTH IO7 

capacity to use it. Neither the original capital nor the 
growing surplus of the knowledge possessed by teachers 
should be confined to the results produced by the study of 
the subjects taught by them. In their first years of ex- 
perience, it is often necessary for teachers to devote much 
of their time and energy to a mastery of the subject matter 
contained in the textbooks used by their pupils in the 
preparation of their assigned lessons. But nothing can 
be more destructive to the real mental life and intellectual 
growth and development of teachers than a mere formal 
going over and over, again and again, of the subject matter 
3f a textbook with which they are perfectly familiar. 

Teachers are frequently urged to make a careful re-study 
3f the lessons which they have taught for many years, not- 
tvithstanding the fact that the lessons, in themselves, can- 
not possibly present anything new to be learned or any- 
thing for consideration which will necessitate mental effort 
or arouse new interest. Imagine a primary teacher, who 
[las devoted several decades of her life to teaching children 
to read and who is thoroughly conversant with the best 
methods of teaching the important subject of reading, 
shortening her vacation in order that she may return to her 
tiome in good time to make a careful review of the lessons 
contained in the Primer and First Reader which she is to 
teach, before she attempts to present to the children the 
profound truths and the stirring scenes which these text- 
books contain ! What intellectual power and spiritual in- 
sight will come to her as she again reads the thrilling story 
of '' A Cat " or even '' The Cat ! " How she will revel in 
the new joy which will come to her soul as she contemplates 
the possibilities of the different answers which may be given 



I08 THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

to such searching questions as " Is this a ball? " " Ned, 
can you hop? " or "Can the bird sing? " Think of the 
inspiration which must come to the soul of a teacher, who 
has drilled children on the multiplication table for a quarter 
of a century, as she reviews the tables of two times one to 
twelve times twelve in search of new ideas to present to her 
class ! How her heart glows with a renewed zeal for her 
work as she prepares anew the lessons to be taught ! 

It is not, however, the teachers of the primary and ele- 
mentary grades, alone, who are in danger of intellectual 
decay and death from such a deadening process of repeti- 
tion. Primary and elementary teachers are generally kept 
alive by being in constant contact with the vigorous life of 
the children whom they teach, and whose never ending 
curiosity to know and whose bounding enthusiasm to do 
are a constant incentive to mental alertness on the part of 
the teacher. 

Increasing the surplus. — Teachers of older pupils in 
high school and college, whose work is highly specialized, 
are also in constant danger of becoming dull and lifeless in 
their oft-repeated presentation of lessons with the subject 
matter of which they are perfectly familiar, unless constant 
additions are made to their surplus of intellectual vitality 
from sources which are outside of their specialties and from 
which new interest, inspiration, and enthusiasm can be drawn. 

A beggar who was reproved for impersonating on three 
successive days, a blind man, a deaf and dumb man, and a 
paralytic, when asked by one of his generous but indignant 
victims if he did not think it would be better to choose one 
affliction and stick to it, replied : 

" No, ma'am. They's nothin' so fatal to the full develop- 



PHYSICAL VITALITY AND MENTAL GROWTH IO9 

ment of all one's naturarpowers as narrer specialization." 
This incident is not without its pedagogical significance 
and needs no comment or explanation. 

All who are conversant with the important incidents in 
our Nation's history will readily recall the stirring scenes 
which took place in the United States Senate in 1830 on the 
occasion of the great debate between Hayne and Webster — 
a debate which is still the subject of much interesting and 
profitable study in the schools. 

In his reply to Hayne, the senator from Massachusetts 
showed a grasp of the fundamental principles of nationality 
and a knowledge of history, which were marvelous in their 
scope and in their application to the subject under discus- 
sion. When asked how much time he had given to the prep- 
aration of his famous reply, Mr. Webster answered, '' Twenty 
years." A review of his biography will bring to mind con- 
vincing proof of the truthfulness of his answer. In all the 
years of these two decades, much of his training, both in the 
theory of our government as gained from his study of the 
constitution, and also in his experience in defending the 
constitutional rights of his Alma Mater and other impor- 
tant interests, led him to interpret the constitution as 
possessing large powers. In all this study and experience, 
he had accumulated a large surplus of knowledge and of 
conviction on the subject of nationality, which enabled him 
to attack the doctrine of States' Rights in a manner which 
disconcerted his opponents and delighted his friends. When 
the supreme moment in his life came, he was prepared to 
meet it with honor to himself and with lasting benefits to 
his country, because of the surplus of knowledge which he 
had accumulated in the preceding years. 



no THE TEACHER S GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

In some such manner, teachers should be prepared to 
meet the supreme moments in their Hves as teachers — 
moments which may determine, in a large measure, the 
future success or failure of their pupils. Fortunately, most 
of us can recall a few teachers of this type — teachers who 
taught out of the fullness of their accumulated surplus of 
knowledge of the subject assigned for study. When the 
opportunity came, they were ready to meet it so as to arouse 
interest, hold attention, and create a hunger to know and 
to grow. Because of preparation made all through the 
years, they were able not only to teach the lesson assigned 
but also to relate its teachings to life and living. 

However large the capital with which teachers begin 
their work, unless a constantly increasing surplus of mental 
vigor is added with each year's experience, their intellectual 
decay and death are certain to follow. In every instance a 
dead or dying school is the direct result of a dead or dying 
teacher. It is, therefore, the constant desire of every live 
teacher to accumulate such a surplus of mental vigor as 
will give life to the school and animate all who attend it 
with an eager desire to work for an education which will 
fit them for life's duties and life's activities. 




VIII 

A SURPLUS OF HEART POWER 

"^VEN with a surplus of physical vitaHty and mental 
vigor, however, teachers may fail to touch the life 



J 

of their pupils in such a manner as to insure their 

growth in the best things of life. Something more than a 
strong body and a keen mind is necessary in the equipment 
of teachers. It is imperative that they also possess a large 
surplus of heart power, without which all teaching must 
fail to realize its highest purpose. 

The need of heart culture. — Perhaps the most serious 
lack in modern education is the failure to develop this heart 
power in pupils. In the emphasis which has been placed 
upon the intellectual, in many instances, the spiritual has 
been neglected. Boys and girls need to be taught to 
appreciate as well as to know ; to feel as well as to do ; to 
sympathize with workers as well as to work. 

In these days when special emphasis is being placed 
upon the importance of things material, when some would 
have us think that preparation for making a living is the 
only purpose of education, when we are told that all the 
products of the school can be definitely measured, there is 
great need that attention be called to the fruits of the 
spirit and to the fact that the best products of education 
cannot be measured in terms of the physical and the in- 
tellectual. Heart culture must not be neglected. The 
emotional life of children must not be starved for lack of 
appropriate food and exercise. 



112 THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

An illustration from Dickens. — In some of the extremely 
'' practical " theories of education, advanced at the present 
time, is found conclusive evidence that the descendants of 
the Gradgrinds, M'Choakumchilds, and Feeders, whose 
characters are so perfectly delineated by Charles Dickens, 
are still abroad in the land and differ little from their an- 
cestors. The following quotation from Hard Times, de- 
scriptive of the leading characteristics of Thomas Grad- 
grind, quite definitely defines the attitude toward education 
of some of the modern measurers of educational results. 

" Thomas Gradgrind, sir. A man of realities. A man of facts 
and calculations. A man who proceeds upon the principle that two 
and two are four, and nothing over, and who is not to be talked into 
allowing for anything over. Thomas Gradgrind, sir — peremptorily 
Thomas — Thomas Gradgrind. With a rule and a pair of scales, and 
the multiplication table always in his pocket, sir, ready to weigh 
and measure any parcel of human nature, and tell you exactly what 
it comes to. It is a mere question of figures, a case of simple arith- 
metic." 

A glance at a Gradgrind School in full operation at the 
time when Dickens wrote, together with a brief considera- 
tion of the methods used there and the results which 
followed, will not be without profit. 

Following a remarkable definition of horse, by " Bitzer," 
the recitation in this School of Facts proceeded : 

"'That's a horse. Now let me ask you girls and boys. Would 
you paper a room with representations of horses ? ' 

^' After a pause, one-half of the children cried in chorus, 'Yes, sir !' 
Upon which the other half, seeing in the gentleman's face that Yes 
was wrong, cried out in chorus, 'No, sir!' as the custom is, in these 
examinations. 

"'Of course, No. Why wouldn't you?' 



A SURPLUS OF HEART POWER II3 

"A pause. One corpulent -slow boy, with a wheezy manner of 
breathing, ventured the answer, Because he wouldn't paper a room 
at all, but would paint it. 

'''You must paper it,' said the gentleman, rather warmly. 

"'You must paper it,' said Thomas Gradgrind, 'whether you like 
it or not. Don't tell us you wouldn't paper it. What do you mean, 
boy? 

'''I'll explain to you, then,' said the gentleman, after another 
dismal pause, 'why you wouldn't paper a room with representations 
of horses. Do you ever see horses walking up and down the sides of 
rooms in reality — in fact ? Do you ? ' 

" ' Yes, sir ! ' from one-half. ' No, sir ! ' from the other. 

"'Of course, no,' said the gentleman, with an indignant look at 
the wrong half. 'Why, then, you are not to see anywhere, what 
you don't see in fact ; you are not to have anywhere, what you don't 
have in fact. What is called Taste, is only another name for Fact.' 

"Thomas Gradgrind nodded his approbation. 

"'This is a new principle, a discovery, a great discovery,' said 
the gentleman. 'Now, I'll try you again. Suppose you were going 
to carpet a room. Would you use a carpet having a representation 
of flowers upon it ? ' 

"There being a general conviction by this time that 'No, sir!' 
was always the right answer to this gentleman, the chorus of No was 
very strong. Only a few feeble stragglers said Yes; among them 
Sissy Jupe. 

"'Girl, number twenty!' said the gentleman, smiling in the calm 
strength of knowledge. 

" Sissy blushed, and stood up. 

"'So you would carpet your room — or your husband's room, 
if you were a grown woman, and had a husband — with representa- 
tions of flowers, would you ? ' said the gentleman. ' Why would you ? ' 

"'If you please, sir, I am very fond of flowers,' returned the girl. 

"'And is that why you would put tables and chairs upon them, 
and have people walking over them with heavy boots ? ' 

"'It wouldn't hurt them, sir. They wouldn't crush and wither, 
if you please, sir. They would be the pictures of what was very 
pretty and pleasant, and I would fancy ' 

OUR PUB. s. — 8 



114 THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

'"Ay, ay, ay! But you mustn't fancy,' cried the gentleman, 
quite elated by coming so happily to his point. 

'"That's it 1 You are never to fancy.' 

'"You are not, CeceUa Jupe,' Thomas Gradgrind solemnly re- 
peated, 'to do anything of that kind.' 

'"Fact, fact, fact!' said the gentleman. And 'Fact, fact, fact!' 
repeated Thomas Gradgrind. 

'"You are to be in all things regulated and governed,' said the 
gentleman, 'by fact. We hope to have, before long, a board of fact, 
composed of commissioners of fact, who will force the people to be a 
people of fact, and nothing but fact. You must discard the word 
Fancy altogether. You have nothing to do with it. You are not to 
have, in any object of use or ornament, what would be a contradiction 
in fact. You don't walk upon flowers in fact ; you cannot be allowed 
to walk upon flowers in carpets. You don't find that foreign birds 
and butterflies come and perch upon your crockery ; you cannot be 
permitted to paint foreign birds and butterflies upon your crockery. 
You never meet with quadrupeds going up and down walls; you 
must not have quadrupeds represented on walls. You must use,' said 
the gentleman, 'for all these purposes, combinations and modifica- 
tions (in primary colors) of mathematical figures which are susceptible 
of proof and demonstration. This is the new discovery. This is 
fact. This is taste.'" 

In this School of Facts, Dickens, the great defender of 
the rights of childhood, tells us no Kttle Gradgrind had 
ever seen a face in the moon; had ever learned the silly 
jingle, 

"Twinkle, twinkle, Httle star. 
How I wonder what you are ;" 

had ever associated a cow in the field with the famous cow 
with the crumpled horn, who tossed the dog who worried 
the cat who killed the rat who ate the malt, or with the 
yet more famous cow that swallowed Tom Thumb. 



A SURPLUS OF HEART POWER II5 

When Thomas GradgTind learned that his children, 
Thomas and Louisa, had actually peeped in at a circus, 
his indignation knew no bounds. In an outburst of sur- 
prise, he excitedly remarked to the mother that he would 
as soon have expected to find his children reading poetry. 
On another occasion, when Louisa had been overheard to 
begin a conversation with her brother by saying, " Tom, 
I wonder," she was immediately censured and sternly 
told that she must never wonder. 

Trained in this School of Facts, her emotional life cruelly 
starved, Louisa Gradgrind grew to young womanhood and 
was married to Josiah Bounderby, the owner of Coke town, 
'^ a big, loud man with a stare, and a metallic laugh, a man 
made out of coarse material," ignorant and unsympathetic 
— the " Bully of humility." This marriage was negotiated 
by her father as a business transaction in keeping with his 
heartless methods and in harmony with his system of edu- 
cation. Even the marriage of his daughter was simply one 
more Fact in the world's long list of Facts. There followed 
the inevitable domestic misery incident to all such heartless 
and loveless unions. In a short time the crisis came and 
the heartbroken woman, who had no knowledge " of tastes 
and fancies, of aspirations and affections," who had " never 
had a child's heart " nor '' dreamed a child's dreams," left 
the abode of her married misery to which she had been con- 
signed by her heartless father, and returned to his home. 

Humiliated by the sad experience through which his 
daughter had passed, Thomas Gradgrind came to the 
conclusion that he could not '' but mistrust himself " and 
in the shadow of this doubt, he soliloquized in language 
both pathetic and suggestive : 



Il6 THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

"Some persons hold that there is a wisdom of the Head, and that 
there is a wisdom of the Heart. I have not supposed so ; but, as I 
have said, I mistrust myself, now. I have supposed the Head to be 
all-sufficient. It may not be all-sufficient; how can I venture this 
morning to say it is !" 

In this manner, in the school of life's sad experience, 
Thomas Gradgrind slowly learned the lesson which this 
generation needs to learn — that the wisdom of the Head, 
important as it is and must always remain, is not all- 
sufhcient, and that there is a higher and much more im- 
portant wisdom — the wisdom of the Heart, which must 
not be neglected in the schools, if the boys and girls who 
attend them are to be prepared for lives of real usefulness 
and joyful service. 

"It is the heart and not the brain 
That to the highest doth attain." 

Feeling and understanding. — This wisdom of the heart 
cannot be learned from books by means of formal lessons. 
It must result largely from daily communion in the home 
and school with parents and teachers who possess a large 
surplus of heart power accumulated by living lives of un- 
selfish service and by giving freely of their own life for 
others. 

When the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by 
night and said unto him, '^ Ask what I shall give thee," 
this wisest man of all the ages repHed, '' Give, therefore, 
thy servant an understanding heart that I may discern 
between good and bad." Because of his wise choice and 
because he did not ask for mere material blessings, Solomon 
was given not only a " wise and understanding heart," but 



A SURPLUS OF HEART POWER II7 

also the material blessings, which he did not primarily 
seek. The sentiment credited to him that as a man 
thinketh in his heart, so is he, applies to all times and all 
conditions. To the truthfulness of the divine teachings of 
the primary importance and the fundamental necessity of 
heart power in the lives of those who are really to lead in 
the world's work, all human experience bears willing testi- 
mony. All agree that out of the heart are the real issues 
of life. To the teacher such heart power is absolutely 
indispensable. To the accumulation of a surplus of such 
power all worthy teachers aspire. 

The physical and the intellectual. — Within certain 
limits, rather definitely fixed, physical exercise is beneficial 
and results in an accumulation of a surplus of physical life 
and vigor. Beyond these limits it cannot go without im- 
pairing physical strength, and even endangering life itself. 
Evidence of this is furnished in the sudden collapse of the 
overtrained athlete who pays the penalty of failing to 
recognize the limitations to which physical training can 
be safely carried. 

In the higher realm of the intellectual, appropriate 
mental exercise is also the only means of accumulating a 
surplus of mental vigor. While there are also in this 
realm limitations beyond which the exercise of the mind 
cannot go without endangering its healthful action and 
growth, usually the more the minds of teachers are exer- 
cised in an intelligent effort to clarify the subject matter 
taught to their pupils, the more vigorous their own minds 
become. Brain fag on the part of teachers scarcely ever 
results from an over accumulation of a surplus of knowl- 
edge. As a rule minds wear out from a lack of such surplus. 



Il8 THE teacher's GROWTH AND SURPLUS 

The spiritual. — In the highest realm of all — the 
spiritual — the cultivation of the emotional life, resulting 
in the accumulation of a surplus of Wisdom of the Heart, 
is realized in the same manner as in the physical and 
mental — by appropriate exercise. In this exercise no se- 
rious attention need be paid to the conflicting theories of 
opposing schools of psychologists, one of which claims to 
believe that the actions produce the emotions, while the 
other insists that the emotions produce the actions. 
Wise teachers will strive so to teach that both emotions 
and actions will result, and they will not waste time 
in trying to discover which is cause and which is effect. 

It is invariably true that the more heart power teachers 
put into their work the more they have on hand for use. 
The more they give to their pupils out of the fullness of 
their own spiritual life, the larger their own souls grow. 
We all know great-hearted teachers who are living mani- 
festations of the true, even if paradoxical, statement that 
the only way to get life is to give life. Unfortunately, 
there are teachers of the opposite type who constantly 
exemplify the equally true statement that the certain way 
to lose life is to save it. 

Teachers who possess a surplus of physical vitality which 
gives strength of body, a surplus of intellectual vigor which 
provides wisdom of the head, and a surplus of heart power 
which insures wisdom of the heart, are well equipped not 
only for their daily duties but also for the emergencies 
which may at any moment arise in the classroom. Such 
an equipment tends to that perfect self-control of body 
and mind so essential to success in the work of the school. 



THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 



119 



IX 
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEACHERS 

IN the midst of the many difficulties and discourage- 
ments which teachers are certain to meet, both in 
the schoolroom and outside of it, it is well for them 
to realize that there are also many sources of encourage- 
ment from which inspiration can be drawn to help them in 
their daily tasks. It is unfortunate for any class of people 
to habituate themselves to thinking that all the hard 
things of life and living center about their calling or pro- 
fession. The advice of Mrs. Wiggs — " Don't you go an' 
git sorry fer yerself " — furnishes a wholesome philosophy 
for all who are inclined to complain about their condition. 
The " Glad Game " has great possibilities in it for all who 
are willing to play it in the right spirit. 

The habit of complaining. — A friend who was once 
entertained in the home of a discouraged school principal 
was compelled to listen to his lament that all his days 
were spent with children ; that he had no opportunity to 
mingle with his equals in the world of business ; and that 
he longed for the time when he could leave the schoolroom 
and its anxieties and perplexities and enjoy freedom from 
the care which he vainly imagined belonged only to the 
life of the teacher. Within a week afterward this friend 
talked with another man who had taught school in his 
earlier years, and who had become a successful business 
man. He lamented the fact that he had to witness so 
many of the dishonest practices of the business world, and 

121 



122 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

stated that he often longed for a return of the days when 
he taught school and associated with bright, happy, inno- 
cent children. In most human beings there is a tendency 
to make difficulties harder to meet by imagining that other 
people have none to meet. The best remedy for this 
disease is a full realization of the fact that no workers 
anywhere are without their difficulties and discourage- 
ments, and that all worthy work worthily performed has 
connected with its performance sources of encouragement. 
Consciousness of duty. — Teachers in common with all 
others, who are honestly and faithfully trying to meet 
their responsibiKties and to improve their opportunities, 
find in the consciousness of duty performed a source of 
genuine encouragement. No one can deprive teachers of 
the happiness which always comes from this source. With 
such encouragement, the routine work of the school loses 
much of what must be drudgery to teachers who complain 
of their responsibilities or who refuse to make use of their 
opportunities. Work can never grow monotonous to 
teachers who have high ideals of duty. To them will 
come something of the vision of a life of duty made up in 
a large measure of a repetition of daily tasks performed in 
a happy spirit, and so beautifully described in the follow- 
ing stanza from Edward Rowland Sill : 

"Forenoon and afternoon and night — 
Forenoon and afternoon and night — 
Forenoon and afternoon — and what ? 
And that is life ? 

No more? Make this forenoon sublime, 
This afternoon a psalm, this night a prayer, 
x\nd time is conquered and thy crown is won." 



ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEACHERS 1 23 

The teacher's silent influence. — To many teachers en- 
grossed with the details of their daily routine there may 
seem to be little opportunity to have any part in the con- 
sideration or the solution of what may appear to them to 
be the larger and more important problems of education 
and life. It is nevertheless true that all teachers who 
faithfully perform their daily tasks do have a large part 
in the solution of all such problems. 

Nearly three decades ago, in a small village school, a 
modest but efficient primary teacher conscientiously taught 
the little children some of the simple facts about the in- 
jurious effects of alcohol upon the human system. Among 
the children thus taught was a little boy whose father, a 
working man, occasionally indulged in the use of liquor. 
One day the father, accompanied by his boy, was offered 
a glass of beer by a friend who, at the same time, laughingly 
offered to the child a tiny glass of the same beverage. As 
the father raised his glass to his lips, he was startled by the 

statement of his boy that Miss , his teacher, had 

told him that it was not good for people to drink beer or 
whiskey. The father looked at his boy and thought of 
the possibility that, when he grew up, he might not be 
able to control an appetite for drink acquired by following 
his father's example. He reaHzed what the teacher, in 
whom he had perfect confidence, was unselfishly trying to 
do and he then and there became a total abstainer and 
an active opponent of the saloon. In all the campaigns 
against the saloon, which have been carried on in the 
village, county, and state in which this father lives, he and 
his son have been ardent champions of the temperance 
cause. Who will say that that primary teacher, and 



124 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

thousands of others hke her, have not had a large part in 
bringing about the great temperance movement which has 
been sweeping over the country, and which is resulting in 
the abolition of the saloon in the entire nation? 

Gratitude and confidence of pupils. — In the appreciation 
of their pupils or students, teachers find another source of 
most helpful encouragement. Frequently this encourage- 
ment comes in the classroom with the teaching of the 
lesson. All who teach well, know the joy which comes 
with noting the change of countenance in pupils who have 
passed from darkness to light, as the result of an under- 
standing of some difficulty which has been made plain to 
them by some helpful suggestion from the teacher. Some- 
times pupils who have been made to realize by means of 
discipline the harmful results of wrongdoing manifest 
sincere appreciation for what has been done for them by 
teachers. The assumption that merited punishment al- 
ways leads pupils to hate teachers who administer such 
punishment is unwarranted. One reason for the absence 
of appreciation of pupils for their teachers is the absence 
of the wholesome discipline which teaches respect and 
commands obedience. 

All who have taught long enough to see their former 
pupils engaged in the affairs of actual life know the en- 
couragement which comes with the hearty appreciation 
of men and women whom they formerly taught. Not in- 
frequently successful business men readily give credit to 
their boyhood teachers for the training which has made 
their success possible. In all communities will be found 
ministers, lawyers, physicians, bankers, working men, and 
working women — persons in all walks of life who are ever 



ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEACHERS 1 25 

ready to pay tribute to the teachers of their childhood and 
youth. Many teachers now Kving in retirement find in 
the gratitude of their former pupils a source of such comfort 
and joy as are unknown to persons who have devoted their 
lives to the accumulation of property with no thought of 
helpfulness to others. 

Parents should show faith in the teacher. — The ap- 
preciation of parents for what teachers do for their children 
is a third source of encouragement for teachers. Unfor- 
tunately there are many parents who never express the 
gratitude which they feel. In this respect they are not 
unlike other people, including teachers. In another chapter 
of this book teachers are urged to express the appreciation 
which is due their pupils for their readiness to cooperate 
in the discipline of the school and for their efforts to do 
the work assigned to them day by day. It is equally 
important that parents express the appreciation which is 
due teachers for their readiness to cooperate with the 
home and for their faithful work in the schoolroom. With 
some parents, failure to express their appreciation of teach- 
ers is due to timidity. With others, indifference is the 
cause. With a still larger number, thoughtlessness is the 
explanation. The attitude of the latter class is indicated 
by the following illustration. 

A superintendent of schools was called into the store of 
a prominent business man for a conference. This business 
man hastened to tell the superintendent with much en- 
thusiasm of the good work which a new eighth grade 
teacher was doing. When asked how he knew about the 
teacher and her good work, the man replied that he had a 
boy in her school ; that this boy had given his parents much 



126 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

» 

anxiety because he had formed such a disUke for going to 
school the year before that it had been difhcult to persuade 
him to enter the eighth grade; that the father had com- 
pelled him to go but that he had feared that he might not 
be able to keep him in school, and that if he did remain in 
school, little would be accomplished by him. He then 
told of the remarkable change which had come over his 
boy, that he now loved to go to school and gladly remained 
at home in the evenings to prepare his lessons for the next 
day. This father gave the teacher the entire credit for 
the change in the boy's attitude toward school and study 
and declared that the teacher must be a remarkable woman 
to exercise such a wholesome influence over a boy. The 
superintendent thanked the father for his kindly expression 
of appreciation of the work of the new teacher and then 
inquired whether he had told her of his gratitude for what 
she had done for his boy. With deep embarrassment the 
father replied, '' I never thought of it." In the confession, 
" I never thought of it," will be found the reason for the 
failure of many parents to express the appreciation which 
they really feel for the work of teachers. 

While such thoughtlessness of parents is inexcusable, it 
is unwise for teachers to dwell upon it to such an extent as 
to lead them to fail to realize that there are many parents 
who do think to express their appreciation of the work of 
the school. Such parents are found in all communities 
and their gratitude is a source of constant encouragement 
to teachers. 

The teacher and the school board. — The approval 
of boards of education is another source of encourage- 
ment. Only persons who have served on boards of 



ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEACHERS 1 27 

education can fully realize the responsibility of the po- 
sition and the thanklessness of the pubHc exhibited in 
too many instances by an attitude of unreasonable and 
unjust criticism manifested toward the men and women 
who give many hours of valuable time in the most im- 
portant public service to which any one can be called. 
Even teachers are sometimes unappreciative of what 
members of boards of education do for them. In some 
instances their lack of appreciation is shown by joining in 
the criticism which is too often due to ignorance or mis- 
understanding. More frequently this lack of appreciation 
is shown by a failure to extend to the board the courtesy of 
a word of thanks, either spoken or written, for an election 
to a position or for a reelection at an increase in salary. 
A few years ago, in one of the states of the central west, 
the enactment of a new school code necessitated the elec- 
tion of new boards of education to succeed boards which 
had been in control of the schools for many years. After 
the election in one of the townships, the members of both 
boards met together to consider the needs and interests of 
the schools of the township, and to transact the business 
incident to the transfer of authority from the old board to 
the new. The meeting was an important one, continuing 
until late at night. One of the members had gone to sleep 
early in the session. When the time came for final adjourn- 
ment, he was peacefully slumbering. Before taking the 
final step which would close the old and open the new 
administration, the clerk of the old board remarked that 
he desired to read a letter which had been addressed to 
him, and which was of interest to all the retiring members. 
He then proceeded to read : 



128 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

" Board of Education, 

Township, 



"Gentlemen: 

"I am sending this note to thank" — 

The unusual sound of the word '' thank " aroused the 
sleeping member who straightened up in his chair and 
asked what was going on. The clerk then started at the 
beginning and read, 

"I am sending this note to thank you, the members of the retiring 
board of education, for the position to which you elected me last 
year, for the support you have given me in my work, and for the 
increase in salary granted me this year." 

This note of appreciation was signed by a young woman 
who was a graduate of the normal school of the near-by 
city. A member of this board, who served the schools of 
his township for more than a quarter of a century, and 
who always loyally supported the teachers, is authority 
for the statement that in all that time the note from this 
teacher was the only note received from any one thanking 
the board for anything. 

Teachers should show their appreciation of an election 
or a reelection not alone by a courteous expression of 
gratitude for the confidence thereby manifested in them, 
but also by the recognition of the fact that an agreement 
or a contract with a board of education to teach school for 
a definite period at a definite salary is an obligation to be 
sacredly kept and not a mere '^ scrap of paper " to be 
ignored, should they be elected to a more desirable posi- 
tion at a larger salary. Superintendents in search of 
teachers should also recognize that some professional 



ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEACHERS 1 29 

courtesy is due other superintendents and their boards of 
education. They should never attempt to induce teach- 
ers to leave the positions to which they have already ac- 
cepted an election or a reelection, without first consulting 
the school authorities in charge of the school which such 
teachers have contracted to serve. In many instances 
teachers should be released from their agreements or con- 
tracts, when called to better positions at increased salaries. 
But in no instance have they either a legal or moral right 
to accept another position, until they have been honorably 
released from the position previously accepted. No excuse 
can be offered for the breaking of a contract by a teacher. 
The sure test of merit. — There are three important 
ways in which boards of education can encourage teachers 
in their work. The first is by recognizing merit and merit 
alone in their election and retention. By such recognition 
inferior teachers can be largely ehminated from any system 
of schools and superior teachers will be greatly encouraged 
to give their best service to the schools. How to determine 
definitely who are teachers of merit is not always an easy 
question, especially when the persons under consideration 
have had no actual experience in actual teaching. Per- 
sonality is always an important factor. A right attitude 
toward Hfe and childhood is a necessity. Professionally 
trained teachers with the ^' model school " experience 
which is generally a part of their training are usually the 
best " prospects," and should be given preference. But 
no one can foretell with absolute certainty whether or 
not anyone without experience will succeed as a teacher. 
The one sure test is teaching. After this test is made, it 
is usually not difficult to determine whether a teacher 

OUR PUB. S. — 9 



130 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

merits retention or not. It is always necessary, however, 
that care be exercised in passing final judgment upon the 
success or failure of teachers. With some, the promise of 
success which characterized their early efforts is not real- 
ized. With others, what seemed failure in the beginning 
changes into success later on. Fortunately, members of 
boards of education do not have to rely upon their own 
judgment in deciding the merits of teachers. Superin- 
tendents and principals are employed to perform this 
service and their recommendations are always followed 
by wise boards of education. 

Encouragement by boards of education. — Another way 
in which boards of education can extend much needed 
encouragement to teachers is by giving them their com- 
plete confidence and loyal support. As long as teachers 
are retained in the schools they have a right to expect 
and they should always have such confidence and support. 
Worthy members of boards of education will never be 
swerved in their loyalty to teachers by the carping criti- 
cism which always exists. One member of a board of 
education, who shows a willingness to hsten to complaints 
against teachers in their absence, can make untold trouble 
for the schools. Even when complaints are valid and 
criticisms are just, they should be made to the superin- 
tendent or principal who can usually dispose of them satis- 
factorily. In no case should members of boards of educa- 
tion take the initiative in such settlement. Boards of 
education are courts of last resort in determining justice 
to teachers, pupils, and patrons. Under ordinary circum- 
stances the fewer sessions held for this purpose the better 
for the schools. 



ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEACHERS I3I 

Liberal salaries. — While a consciousness of duty per- 
formed, words of appreciation from grateful pupils and 
patrons, and the confidence and support of loyal members 
of boards of education furnish much needed encouragement 
to teachers, all these combined do not provide a means of 
livelihood. While their value cannot be computed in 
money, neither can they take the place of money. While 
deserving teachers never teach for money alone, all teach- 
ers must have money with which to buy the necessities of 
life. A third way, therefore, and in many respects the 
most important way in which boards of education can 
give encouragement to teachers, is by the payment of 
liberal salaries. In some instances persons are elected to 
membership on boards of education with the unworthy 
ambition of saving money for the taxpayers by reducing 
school expenses. While there should always be rigid 
economy in the expenditure of pubHc funds for any pur- 
pose, it is very rarely the case that less money should be 
spent for public education. If there is any extravagance 
in the use of school funds, it is occasionally shown in the 
erection and equipment of too costly buildings. If such 
extravagance occurs, it is never right to ask teachers to 
pay for the buildings thus erected by teaching at smaller 
salaries or for a shorter school year. It is never wise 
economy to employ cheap teachers or to reduce school 
opportunities and thereby to impair the rights of children 
to secure a good education. In the majority of instances, 
however, members of boards of education are willing to 
provide for the payment of as liberal salaries as the financial 
condition of the district will permit. Usually they are 
ready to join in any legitimate movement which will pro- 



132 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

vide more money for the schools. They should always 
be, and they usually are citizens whose business ability 
and integrity inspire confidence in the community, and 
as a result they are qualified to lead in securing the financial 
recognition which the schools deserve. 

In some communities there exist conditions which make 
it impossible for boards of education to pay good salaries. 
These conditions are in no sense the fault of those in control 
of the schools. Frequently they are due to extravagance 
in other departments of public service. There is a growing 
feeling that the public schools will never be certain of the 
financial support to which they are justly entitled, until 
laws are enacted which will insure that a definite and fixed 
proportion of all moneys raised by pubhc taxation shall 
go to their maintenance. It is neither wise nor just to 
permit a board composed entirely of officials representing 
other departments of public service to determine the 
amount of money to be used by the schools. If boards 
with the power of making distribution of pubhc funds are 
deemed necessary, common fairness demands that the 
pubhc schools which constitute the most important public 
interest shall be represented on such boards. No cus- 
todians of pubhc funds have a better record for economy 
and honesty in the use of funds at their disposal than 
boards of education. Because of the interests which they 
represent, they are entitled to have entire control of the 
financial management of the schools, including the levying 
of taxes for their support as well as the expenditure of the 
money produced by such levy, subject only to such re- 
strictions as will hold them to strict accountability and 
guard against any extravagance or dishonesty. 



ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEACHERS 1 33 

A difficult problem. — Even when sufficient funds are 
provided for the payment of teachers' salaries, the adjust- 
ment of such salaries presents one of the most difficult 
problems which boards of education have to meet. All 
who have had experience with teachers know that the 
difference in their real worth is much greater than the 
difference in the salaries paid them. Some teachers are 
worth their weight in gold. Others belong in the silver 
class. Some would be over-compensated, if paid in a 
leaden currency. Many factors enter into the value of a 
teacher's services. Knowledge is important. Ignorance 
is never a valuable commodity, and the supply is always 
so much greater than the demand that the tendency of 
prices is always downward. On the other hand there is 
always a good market in the business world for usable 
knowledge, and teachers who are in possession of a large 
supply of such knowledge should have financial recognition 
of what they know. To teachers, however, ability to im- 
part knowledge to pupils in such a manner as to make 
them eager to know and willing to work to learn is of 
far more worth than the knowledge itself. Such ability 
should have much greater recognition than it has usually 
received in the adjustment of salaries. 

This ability to impart knowledge — the power to teach 
so as to cause another to know, comes in a large measure 
with experience. Experience which shows the develop- 
ment of such ability and teaching power should, therefore, 
be a large factor in determining increases in salaries. Un- 
fortunately in many school systems salaries are increased 
with experience, regardless of the results shown by the 
experience. Some teachers are worth much more each 



134 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

succeeding year because of the mistakes eliminated and 
the helpful lessons learned in the preceding years. Others 
are worth less each succeeding year, because of the mis- 
takes repeated until they become habitual and the failure 
to improve by the lessons which should have been learned 
by experience. To recognize the experience of teachers 
in a fair, just, and impartial manner, there should, there- 
fore, be both an ascending and a descending salary scale. 
For all teachers who are so able and so eager to learn in 
the school of experience that they show marked improve- 
ment each year in their work, salaries should be increased 
as rapidly as financial conditions will permit. For teachers 
who are so indifferent to the lessons of experience as to 
keep on repeating their mistakes and thereby showing 
their inability to improve, salaries should be decreased so 
rapidly as to insure their retirement at an early date. 

The relative worth of teachers. — In determining the 
value of the experience of teachers under their direction, 
superintendents and principals upon whom boards of 
education should rely for guidance in the adjustment of 
salaries, find a most difficult and delicate duty to perform 
— a duty which cannot be evaded without injury to the 
schools and injustice to the teachers, and which cannot 
be performed by the adoption of a fixed rule which auto- 
matically determines increase in salaries regardless of 
special merit possessed by superior teachers. Neither 
can the increasing or decreasing value of teachers' services 
be definitely determined by a formal " rating " of teaching 
and by recording on a '' rating blank" the per cents which 
some educational theorist has decided are indicative of the 
relative value of the desirable characteristics of teachers. 



ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEACHERS 135 

In these days of " credits," " measurements," and '' stand- 
ardization," there is danger that a dead and deadening 
formaUsm may take possession of the schools and of those 
who are responsible for their administration. By means 
of a peculiar and prevalent type of specious reasoning 
based upon real or supposed analogies which are presumed 
to exist between the world of matter and the realm of the 
spiritual, conclusions are being drawn which are as dan- 
gerous as they are false. It is comparatively easy to 
measure the market value of work of a material nature 
and to know whether it has been well or poorly done. 
Frequently such work is done by the '' piece " and paid 
for in accordance with a definite schedule as '' piece work." 
On the other hand it is always exceedingly difficult to 
measure the value of the services of a teacher who knows 
what to teach and how to teach it, and whose life is conse- 
crated to the work of training intellect and building char- 
acter. Work of this nature cannot be done by the " piece " 
and then inspected and paid for at the schedule rate, when 
found to be done in accordance with the plans and speci- 
fications. 

It requires rare ability in a superintendent or principal 
to determine with fairness and justice the relative worth 
of teachers. It requires still rarer courage to assume the 
responsibility of advising a board of education to adopt a 
salary schedule which will in some measure at least give 
financial recognition of such relative worth and thereby 
give the greatest encouragement to the most deserving 
teachers. In the midst of the imperfections in which we 
live and work ideal conditions cannot obtain. An ideal 
should be kept constantly in mind, however, by boards 



136 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

of education and their executive officers in the adjustment 
of salaries. This ideal will include, whenever possible, 
the payment of such salaries as will enable teachers to 
live in comfort and to lay aside something for old age, and 
an increase in salary each year to all teachers whose devo- 
tion to duty and growth in teaching power plainly show 
that they are worthy of the increase. It would seem that 
it ought also to be possible to make a definite distinction 
between the kinds of service rendered by different types 
of teachers and so to adjust salaries as to give special en- 
couragement to teachers of special merit. 

Every one knows, however, that the salaries usually 
paid to teachers in our public schools have not been in 
the past and are not now sufficient to make it possible for 
them to provide for the future. One of the most dis- 
couraging things connected with the Hfe of teachers is the 
anxiety with which they look forward to the time when, 
on account of illness or old age, they must retire from 
active service. Teachers without relatives or friends upon 
whom they can depend for assistance in their dechning 
years cannot escape such anxiety. 

A retirement fund. — Since it seems impossible under 
present conditions to secure sufficient money with which 
to pay salaries which will make it possible for teachers to 
provide for their future needs, it is highly important that 
provision should be promptly made in every state, as has 
already been done in several states, for a teachers' retire- 
ment fund which will guarantee to all teachers who have 
given their lives to the service of the state at least a reason- 
able degree of comfort in the years which follow their re- 
tirement. Such a retirement fund is not a gratuity — 



ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEACHERS 137 

'^ something given freely or without recompense." It is 
not a charity — " something bestowed gratuitously on the 
needy or the suffering for their rehef." It is simply a be- 
lated payment of the interest on a debt long past due from 
the state to the overworked and underpaid teachers who 
have done more for the physical, mental, and moral wel- 
fare of the state than any other class of citizens in the 
state. To such encouragement all worthy teachers are 
entitled. 

Appreciation the best reward. — In a government of the 
people, by the people, for the people, it is imperative that 
all the people be given an education such as our public 
schools were founded to furnish. Just as in the crisis 
through which civilization has been passing, the world 
has been looking to the United States for help to win the 
victory for democracy in its war against autocracy, so in 
the permanent peace which it is hoped will follow this vic- 
tory, the world will look to the United States to furnish 
the ideals of education, which are essential to the life of 
democracy. Never before in the history of our nation 
have teachers in our public schools faced such opportuni- 
ties for service, or been called upon to assume such responsi- 
bilities for results as at the present time. In their difficult 
work of training the youth of America for citizenship in a 
world democracy, they need all the encouragement that 
can come to them from the loyal and liberal support of 
united and appreciative patrons. Without such en- 
couragement, failure is inevitable. With such encourage- 
ment, success is assured. 



X 

RELATION OF SUPERINTENDENT TO TEACHERS 



f I ^HE public schools are the schools of all the people, 
I who with few exceptions give them their loyal 
support, not only by providing money raised by 
taxation for their maintenance, but also by according to 
them a keen appreciation of the educational opportunities 
which are thereby furnished to their children. Soon after 
their establishment it became evident that the people 
could not be directly responsible for their management. 
Laws were, therefore, enacted authorizing and requiring 
the appointment or election of boards of education to 
represent the people in providing properly equipped school 
buildings in which to hold the schools, and in electing 
teachers to take charge of the work. As the school attend- 
ance rapidly increased in the towns and cities, boards of 
education readily reahzed that they could not efficiently 
represent the people in the management of their educational 
interests without an executive officer, specially equipped 
for the work, who could devote all of his time and attention 
to the administration of the schools under their control. 
To meet this need, laws were enacted authorizing boards 
of education to elect a superintendent of schools to advise 
the board as to the best educational policy to be adopted by 
them and to execute for the board such policies and plans 
as they might see fit to adopt. 
In many instances, the election of a superintendent to 

138 



RELATION OF SUPERINTENDENT TO TEACHERS 139 

represent the board of education in an advisory capacity 
and to direct the work of the schools did not, for a time, 
meet the pubhc approval. Many people doubted the 
necessity or the importance of the new ofiice. They were 
unable to see what a superintendent of schools could find 
to do, when the board of education provided the material 
equipment for the use of the schools and elected teachers 
to teach the children. The original attitude of the public 
toward the ofhce of superintendent is illustrated by the 
following incident. 

One type of superintendent. — A group of children were 
taking advantage of a recess period to engage in playing a 
game of school. As is almost always true in such a game, 
they were presenting, as their conception of the school, 
the worst possible conditions of disorder and the worst 
examples of teaching they had ever known. The pupils 
were all idle, indolent, and impudent. Their lessons were 
unprepared and their general behavior was unbecoming in 
every way. The teacher belonged to that class, unfortu- 
nately represented in too many schools, who are afraid their 
rights will not be properly recognized, and who, therefore, 
always demand more of their pupils than they are either 
able or willing to give in return. Like other heathen, this 
teacher used many vain repetitions, evidently hoping to 
be heard on account of much speaking. With such pupils 
and such a teacher, the type of school represented in the 
game can be readily imagined. 

Some of the parents of the children engaged in the game 
happened to be visiting the school and were interested 
spectators of the play. They noticed one of the boys, 
who seemed to take no part in it except to walk up and 



I40 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

down among the other children in a listless sort of way. 
Occasionally he would rest his hand upon the head of some 
boy, while examining with a look of indifference, his copy- 
book or his prepared work in arithmetic or language. 
At other times, he would glance around the schoolroom 
in a mysterious manner. Finally he took a seat near the 
teacher's desk where he remained stationary through the 
remainder of the recitation, at the close of which he bade 
the teacher good-by and retired from the busy scene. 
His strange actions aroused the curiosity of the interested 
visitors, one of whom inquired who this mysterious per- 
sonage might be, and why he did not take a more definite 
and active part in the game. Instantly the children 
responded : '' Oh ! He is not expected to do anything ; 
he is the superintendent." 

It is possible that this reply may represent the opinion 
still held by a few uninformed and unintelligent individuals. 
It is also possible that there may still be found an occasional 
so-called superintendent who merits the description indi- 
cated in the reply. It is fortunately true, however, that 
such a superintendent is rare in these days of educational 
progress. 

A more common type. — In the great majority of in- 
stances the superintendent of public schools is now held 
in the highest regard by all the best people who live in the 
district which he serves. He is recognized as a large factor 
not only in the successful management of the schools but 
also in the direction of the affairs of the community. He 
is called upon to assume grave responsibility in initiating 
and executing educational policies. Intelligent people no 
longer think of him as an impractical theorist, nor sneer- 



RELATION OF SUPERINTENDENT TO TEACHERS 141 

ingly refer to him as a man who may know what is in 
books but who is ignorant of business affairs and devoid 
of common sense. Of no other pubHc servant is more 
required in knowledge, tact, skill, judgment, and courage. 
Instead of not being expected to do anything, he is required 
to have some part in doing almost everything. He is 
usually the busiest man in the community. 

To-day competent and efficient members of boards of 
education gladly defer to the judgment of a competent and 
efficient superintendent. They always loyally support 
him in carrying out his educational policy. Instead of 
looking upon the superintendent as a mere figurehead 
or office clerk, they expect him to stand for something 
very definite in the community, both as a man and as a 
superintendent. They believe that there is a place in the 
educational system for properly constituted authority and 
that this authority should be lodged in the superintendent, 
who should be held to a strict account both for the manner 
in which he exercises it and also for the results which follow. 
This authority should give him the initiative in the employ- 
ment of all teachers and in framing and directing the 
educational policy to be adopted and pursued. 

The relation of superintendent to teachers. — In the 
exercise of such authority, a wise superintendent always 
seeks the advice of the worthy members of his board of 
education. He also holds frequent conferences with his 
teachers. In all his relations with them or with the public, 
he is open-minded and absolutely straightforward. His 
every act and every word bears the stamp of sincerity. 
He never uses his authority in an arbitrary manner. He 
never boasts of the power he possesses. 



142 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

It is in this authority, vested in the superintendent and 
properly exercised by him, that the individual teacher finds 
the best guarantee of that freedom which is so essential to 
the highest success. The right relation of superintendent 
to teachers is, therefore, the relation of authority, properly 
constituted and wisely exercised, to individual freedom, 
properly conceived and wisely used. 

Conflicting forces not necessarily antagonistic. — The 
principle involved in this relation of apparently conflicting 
ideas is found in the world of nature, in the field of politics, 
and even in the domain of theology, as well as in the relation 
of superintendent to teachers. 

In the world of nature, the centripetal and centrifugal 
forces are in constant operation. Notwithstanding the 
fact that the direction of one of these forces is toward 
the center and of the other from the center, they are both 
so perfect in their action that perfect results necessarily 
follow. 

In the field of politics, there always has been, is now, and 
always will be a difference of opinion between the followers 
of Alexander Hamilton, the great representative of national 
authority as embodied in a strong centralized government, 
and the followers of Thomas Jeft'erson, the great representa- 
tive of the freedom of the individual, who is subject to the 
government. To-day, however, no one but an unreasonable 
partisan fails to see something of good in the political creeds 
of both Hamilton and Jefferson. A few times in our history 
as a nation we have reached high tide under the adminis- 
tration of a great soul who was competent to appreciate 
fully the good in both theories of government. Under 
the immortal Lincoln, a terrible strife of four years in our 



RELATION OF SUPERINTENDENT TO TEACHERS 1 43 

nation was so guided and controlled that, when the end 
finally came, the world recognized, as never before, the 
majesty and authority of our government, and yet, at the 
same time, the world understood as never before, the real 
significance of individual freedom for all, and the real 
meaning of the phrase — government of the people, by 
the people, for the people. 

In the domain of theology many sermons have been 
preached, many volumes have been printed, and many 
discussions have been held, in a vain attempt to explain 
away the apparent conflict between God's sovereignty and 
man's free agency, by an oz^er-emphasis of the one and an 
under-eimphsLsis of the other. To the ordinary layman, 
however, the best explanation yet proposed for the diffi- 
culties connected with the question is found in the old 
colored man's wise observation that he had never " heard 
tell of anybody's bein' 'lected to anything 'cept when he 
was a candidate.'^ 

Just as there can never be any harmful results in the 
world of nature from the action of the apparently con- 
flicting centripetal and centrifugal forces, neither of which 
can ever trespass upon the domain of the other, so no 
harmful results can ever follow in school administration, 
if such relation be sustained between the superintendent's 
authority and the teacher's freedom as will not permit either 
to trespass upon the domain of the other. Just as authority 
is strengthened and freedom is made more secure by a 
proper recognition and application of the two ideas em- 
bodied in the two apparently conflicting theories of govern- 
ment, so, in school administration, the authority of the 
superintendent is strengthened and the freedom of the 



144 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

teacher is made more secure by a proper recognition and 
application of the two ideas embodied in the apparently 
conflicting theories of the authority of the superintendent 
to plan and to direct and the freedom of the teacher to 
carry out the proposed plans and to follow the given direc- 
tions. Just as God's sovereignty, when properly com- 
prehended, in no sense interferes with the intelligent use 
of a rational individual's freedom of choice to work out his 
own salvation, even if it be with fear and trembling, so the 
superintendent's authority, when properly constituted and 
wisely exercised, in no sense interferes with the intelligent 
use of a sensible teacher's freedom of choice to teach in 
such a way and by the use of such methods as are best 
adapted to her individual characteristics and as are best 
suited to the needs of her school. 

Powers and duties of superintendents. — The authority 
of the superintendent, however, may be unwisely used in 
planning and executing such a close and rigid organization 
and classification of the schools as will seriously interfere 
with the largest growth and the highest development of the 
individual pupils and with the fullest success of the indi- 
vidual teachers in their work of instruction. In the earlier 
days of supervision, this was possibly the tendency. But 
at present much of the criticism directed against the 
organization and classification of the schools is without 
reason or excuse and is due to the fact that the critics 
presume that conditions exist in reality, which have no 
existence except in their own distorted imaginations. 
Some of the severest critics of present day school admin- 
istration waste their time and exhaust their energy in 
creating, arresting, indicting, prosecuting, condemning, 



RELATION OF SUPERINTENDENT TO TEACHERS 145 

sentencing, and punishing large numbers of men of straw 
with whom they have associated so long as to render them 
in a large measure oblivious to what is being done in the 
world of reality to correct the defects against which they so 
loudly declaim. 

In the great majority of instances, the organization of 
schools into classes of reasonable size, as such organization 
usually exists at the present time, not only secures the 
greatest good to the greatest number, but also serves the 
highest interests of the individual pupil. It is highly 
important that classes of sufhcient size be maintained in 
the organization of schools to insure the proper class spirit 
and to secure the benefits which result from the enthusiasm 
of numbers. The claim sometimes made that, in order 
to reach the individual child, the teacher must at all times 
deal directly with the individual, is not in accord with the 
teachings of experience. There are many times when 
the individual is best reached through the class. While 
too many pupils to a teacher necessarily leads to a neglect 
of the individual, on the other hand, too few pupils to a 
teacher just as certainly works harm to the individual 
because of the lack of interest of both pupil and teacher, 
which is certain to result. In fact all experience indorses 
and confirms the following statement quoted from the 
Report of the Committee of Twelve on Rural Schools : 

''When we consider the various elements that enter into a good 
education and especially training for social activities, it is not too 
much to say that a very small school is almost necessarily a very 
poor school." 

Because of the recognition of the truthfulness of the 
conclusion stated in this report, '' that a very small school 

OUR PUB. S. 10 



146 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

is almost necessarily a very poor school," thousands of 
such small schools have been abandoned and, throughout 
the country, wherever the physical conditions will permit, 
rural schools are being rapidly consolidated or centralized, 
in order that they may be better organized and classified, 
and, therefore, be better fitted to serve the children of the 
rural communities. 

Organizing and classifying. — One of the important 
duties of a superintendent of schools is, therefore, the proper 
exercise of his authority in directing such an organization 
and classification of the schools under his supervision as 
will serve the best interests of the pupils. In the exercise 
of this authority, he will have, in working out the matters 
of detail, the loyal support of all teachers who are worthy 
of the freedom which rightly belongs to them. 

In this important and necessary work, neither superin- 
tendents nor teachers can afford to waste any time in the 
consideration of the claims made by a few visionary the- 
orists that there is no longer any need of the exercise of any 
authority in the organization and classification of schools, 
and that both pupils and teachers should be given absolute 
freedom in their work. There is no such thing as absolute 
freedom in the world, either in school or out of it. Willing 
obedience to wholesome authority is the price which must 
always be paid for genuine freedom. 

Just as the citizen who most readily obeys the laws of 
his country is the one who complains the least about the 
proper exercise of rightly constituted authority, so the 
teacher or pupil who most readily responds to the authority 
of the superintendent is the one who complains the least 
about the wholesome regulations of the school. Just as 



RELATION OF SUPERINTENDENT TO TEACHERS 147 

the individual who prates the most about the interference 
of authority with his individual freedom is not infrequently 
the anarchist who ought to be in jail, so the teacher or pupil 
who is always talking about individual rights and always 
demanding special privileges too often belongs to the class 
who have mistaken their unfortunate peculiarities for 
strong individuality and who are most in need of the control 
and direction of the superintendent. 

Not only is the organization of schools into classes of 
reasonable size desirable from an educational standpoint, 
but such organization is a necessity from a financial stand- 
point. The suggestion, made by extremists who condemn 
all organization and classification and who fail to see any 
good in class spirit or class enthusiasm, that '' one teacher 
to about five children would be about right," is so imprac- 
tical in its nature and so impossible of execution as to 
render it unworthy of serious consideration. To carry 
out such a suggestion would necessitate an expenditure of 
from five to eight times the amount of money now paid 
for teachers' salaries, with a corresponding increase in the 
cost of schoolrooms and equipment. The impossibility 
of realizing such an ideal, even if it were worthy of realiza- 
tion, will be evident to any one who will compute the cost 
of such realization in his district, village, town, city, or 
state. 

It is plainly evident that harmful results must also follow 
an unwise use or abuse of authority, should the superintend- 
ent demand a too rigid adherence to the course of study 
prescribed for the guidance of teachers in directing the 
work of their pupils. It is often claimed by the critics of 
the public schools that teachers are not allowed any free- 



148 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

dom in the use of the course of study; that all pupils in 
the same grade in all of the schools, regardless of conditions, 
are compelled to be at the same place in the study of the 
same subject on the same day ; that all classes of the same 
grade must do exactly the same amount of work in a speci- 
fied time, whatever their abilities may be ; that teachers 
of ten-talent, five-talent, and one-talent schools must all 
render the same account of their stewardship ; and that 
as a result not only individual pupils, but entire classes of 
pupils, are either stretched or contracted to meet the 
absolutely unchangeable demands of an absolutely fixed 
course of study. In the great majority of instances inves- 
tigation will prove the entire absence of any foundation 
for the existence of such criticism. As a rule teachers 
whose judgment is worthy of consideration are not only 
consulted in the preparation of the course of study which is 
to serve as their guide, but they are also given a large 
amount of liberty in so adapting the course as to meet 
the varying conditions and needs of the schools which 
they teach. 

In any system of schools there are usually a few teachers 
who need very definite guidance, both in what they do and 
in what they teach. Unless the authority of the superin- 
tendent and his assistants is exercised in giving such guid- 
ance, such teachers are liable either to miss the road entirely, 
to travel in the wrong direction, or to go off on every path 
that happens to look inviting to them, with the result 
that their pupils fail to learn with any degree of thorough- 
ness many things of fundamental importance and are, 
therefore, unprepared later on to do the work which is 
necessary to be done. While slavery to a course of study 



RELATION OF SUPERINTENDENT TO TEACHERS 1 49 

is to be greatly deplored and the abuse of authority which 
leads to such slavery is to be severely condemned, on the 
other hand the determined attempt of any teacher to 
ignore the requirements of a wisely planned course of 
study should meet with prompt and positive disapproval 
on the part of those who are responsible for the work of 
the schools. 

Courses of study. — Not only is it important that 
teachers recognize the value of a wisely planned course 
of study and willingly strive to meet, in so far as possible, 
its requirements as they apply to the grades or classes 
which they teach, but it is also equally important that 
they possess a general knowledge of the requirements of 
the entire course and an intimate acquaintance with the 
work to be done not only in their own grades and classes 
but also in the grades and classes which immediately precede 
or follow. 

An efhcient superintendent will, therefore, exercise his 
authority in securing a reasonable and faithful adherence 
to the course of study by individual teachers in the grades 
or classes which they teach and in insisting that all teachers 
shall maintain a vital interest in the work of other grades 
or classes with which their own work is so intimately 
related. Unwillingness of a teacher to cooperate with 
the superintendent in securing a reasonable and faithful 
adherence to a wisely planned course of study is an indica- 
tion of insubordination which cannot be excused because 
of any false claim to individual freedom. Inability of a 
teacher so to cooperate is an indication of inefficiency 
which must result in harm to the schools if permitted to 
continue. 



150 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

The use and abuse of textbooks. — Slavery to the use 
of textbooks is another harmful result which will follow 
an unwise use or abuse of authority by a superintendent 
who unduly magnifies the importance of knowledge gained 
from books and who fails to understand or to appreciate 
the value of information gained by intelligent observation 
and study of nature and life. It is possible to follow the 
textbook so closely in teaching subjects which bear an 
intimate relation to nature and life, that the child will fail 
to realize the existence of such a relation. As a result, 
the child will form the habit of memorizing and repeating 
in parrot-like manner what the author of the textbook has 
recorded, with no thought of making any observations or 
of conducting any investigations of his own. Under such 
teaching it is possible for pupils of certain types to go 
through school without discovering that there are many 
things worth knowing, which must be learned outside of 
textbooks. The following outline of an incident, related 
a few years ago by William Hawley Smith to a small 
group of friends who were discussing textbook teaching, will 
serve to illustrate the dangers of overdoing it. 

Shortly after this noted author and lecturer had delivered 
one of his stirring addresses on education, a young principal 
of a village school, who had heard the address and who was 
evidently much impressed with its earnest appeal for a 
broader recognition of the varied capacities of children, 
met Mr. Smith on the train and, after introducing himself, 
related his experience in substance as follows : 

Your lecture convinced me that I was adhering too closely to the 
subject matter of the textbooks, and as a result almost entirely 
neglecting the training of the powers of observation possessed by the 



RELATION OF SUPERINTENDENT TO TEACHERS 151 

children. I returned to my school determined to reform my methods 
of teaching so that the pupils in my classes would have their attention 
directed daily to matters of interest outside of books. My school is 
located in a village surrounded by a farming community, whose chief 
product is corn, thousands of bushels of which are stored in cribs 
not far from the schoolhouse. This corn attracts rats in large num- 
bers and I thought that, if there is any object in the world with which 
the children are familiar, that object is certainly a rat. I closed 
the recitation in the textbook sooner than usual, in order to have a 
few minutes for outside work in the form of an observation lesson, 
and proceeded to begin my reform. I asked the children how many 
of them had ever seen a rat and at once had a showing of hands which 
proved that all were familiar with the object about which the observa- 
tion lesson to be given centered. I then asked a second question, 
which I predicted all could not immediately answer correctly, inas- 
much as a correct answer would require close observation, which I 
feared they were not all in the habit of making. This second question 
called for definite information relative to the length of hair on a rat's 
tail. The answers varied, from a small fraction of an inch to several 
inches. The "critical moment" had arrived. The time was at hand 
for a most impressive first lesson in the reform movement which 
would take the thought of the children from textbooks, center their 
attention upon the object under consideration, and teach them the 
importance of making observations at first hand. Calhng attention 
for a moment to the great difference in the answers to the question 
and to the fact that there could be but one correct answer, I asked 
how that correct answer could be determined. One boy immediately 
signified by uplifted hand a readiness to respond. He was asked 
to do so and replied, 

"Look it up in the dictionary!" 

While it is possible to give so much attention to text- 
book lessons and books of reference, as sources of informa- 
tion that children will gain the false impression that any 
question in dispute can be settled by " looking it up " 
in the dictionary or encyclopedia, it is also possible to go 



152 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

to the other extreme of spending an undue amount of time 
in so-called observation or development lessons with the 
result that children will become incapable of sitting down 
alone, and, unaided, of getting from books the lessons 
which can be learned from no other source. While the 
training of the observation is exceedingly important in 
order that the senses may be cultivated to take in impres- 
sions from the outside, it is equally important that the 
power to get thought from the printed page be developed 
in order that the recorded results of the investigations and 
thinking of the greatest minds of the world may be under- 
stood and appreciated. 

An efficient superintendent will wisely exercise a sufficient 
amount of authority in directing the teaching in the schools 
under his control to secure a well-balanced training for the 
children in the observation of nature, the study of objects, 
and the mastery of textbooks. And capable teachers will 
avoid on the one hand the extreme which confines the 
lessons to the textbook and on the other hand the other 
extreme which substitutes lectures by the teacher for the 
study of lessons in the textbook which have been carefully 
outlined and definitely assigned for preparation by the 
pupils. 

Examinations and promotions. — In the earlier years of 
the history of school supervision with its accompanying 
organization and classification of schools and adoption of 
courses of study dealing in a large measure with the subject 
matter of textbooks, there was, no doubt, a tendency to 
over emphasize the importance of formal examinations as a 
means of testing the products of teaching and of determining 
the fitness of pupils for promotion. In some instances ex- 



RELATION OF SUPERINTENDENT TO TEACHERS 1 53 

aminations were held each month in each subject and the 
success or failure of pupils at the end of the term or year 
was determined wholly and finally by whether or not their 
average of examination grades reached a certain fixed and 
inflexible standard determined by the authority of the 
school as represented by its superintendent, who prepared 
the examination questions in each branch of study in all 
the grades of the school. Under such a system of promo- 
tions the judgment of the teacher was largely ignored; 
and both teachers and pupils used all their time and energy 
in an attempt to prepare for the examination, upon whose 
results depended the success of the teacher in the past and 
the hope of the pupil for the future. To pass or not to pass 
was the question uppermost in the minds of all. Grades 
were the all-important ends and aims of school work. 

In the laudable attempt to correct this extreme use, or 
rather this abuse of examinations, it is possible that the 
opposite extreme has been reached at present in many 
schools and that, as a result, pupils to-day, instead of 
suffering the wrongs incident to too many and too technical 
examinations upon which everything is made to depend, 
are the victims of no examinations at all and, as a result, 
go through school without an opportunity to receive the 
educational benefit which undoubtedly comes from the 
written examination properly conducted as a test of knowl- 
edge. Under the old regime, teachers taught and pupils 
prepared their lessons with the nightmare of the final 
examination constantly in mind. They drilled and 
crammed, in the hope that a passing grade might be secured, 
and with the feehng that failure to pass meant disgrace. 
Under the new regime, pupils prepare for a passing grade 



154 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

in the passing recitation, in the hope that no final examina- 
tion will ever test their understanding of a subject once 
recited, or their retentive power in being able to recall 
important fundamental facts and principles, and with the 
feeling that to escape an examination is indeed a high 
honor. 

While it is wrong in both theory and practice to give no 
consideration, in determining the standing and promotion of 
pupils, to their work in the daily recitation, on the other 
hand, to make the marks given by the teacher in the daily 
recitation the one factor in determining such standing and 
promotion, and to excuse all pupils who recite well day by 
day from all formal tests, constitute a policy which, although 
both general and popular, may well be questioned. There 
are good reasons to believe that pupils who really do well 
in the daily recitation should be glad of an opportunity 
to prove their worth in a fair examination, conducted in 
such a manner, and with questions of such a nature, as 
to constitute a welcome test instead of a dreaded tempta- 
tion, as has too often been the case in the past when exami- 
nations were made up of questions which tested the memory 
alone or which were prepared with the purpose of " catch- 
ing " the unwary or frightening the timid. It is certainly 
unreasonable, unfair, and unjust to ignore the judgment of 
teachers in estimating the standing and in determining 
the promotion of pupils. But to make teachers the sole 
judges of such standing and promotion is to impose upon 
them a responsibility from which they may well shrink. 
The better the judgment of teachers the more anxious 
they are to have their judgment supplemented by the 
judgment of the principal or superintendent, based upon a 



RELATION OF SUPERINTENDENT TO TEACHERS 1 55 

fair test of their work by means of a fair examination of 
their pupils. 

A superintendent has abundant justification for exercis- 
ing his authority in submitting pupils to fair and reasonable 
examinations at such times and under such circumstances 
as he may deem wise, with the purpose of testing both the 
knowledge of the pupils and the ability of teachers in 
imparting knowledge, and in using the results of such 
examinations in connection with the estimates of the 
teachers in marking the standing, and in determining the 
promotion of pupils. Well-taught pupils and capable 
teachers have nothing to fear from the exercise of such 
authority and will gladly respond to such a test. 

Cooperation. — The relation of superintendent to teach- 
ers should be constantly characterized by the exercise of 
mutual sympathy in th« work of the school. As a rule, 
and there are few if any exceptions to this rule, the super- 
intendent should have had actual experience as a teacher 
and thereby know at first hand the difficulties which beset 
the pathway of the teacher. It is only by means of such 
experience that genuine sympathy for the teacher is born. 
No amount of training in the theory of education or of the 
study of ideal school administration can take the place of 
this experience. A superintendent without it is in constant 
danger of assuming, perhaps unconsciously to himself, but 
nevertheless, obviously to all but himself, the attitude of 
an unsympathetic commander who demands that his 
teachers shall do what he orders, rather than that of a 
sympathetic leader who inspires them to follow his leader- 
ship. 

A superintendent who is so unfortunate as to be with- 



156 THE TEACHER AND THE SUPERINTENDENT 

out experience as a teacher, can best show his wisdom 
and most readily gain the sympathy of his teachers by 
manifesting a wiUingness to learn from them the lessons 
which they have learned by experience. Were it possible 
for teachers to know from experience the difficulties which 
so often confront the superintendent, they would be better 
prepared to sympathize with him in his work and would 
be less apt to criticize his actions. Generally, however, 
teachers readily respond to the wishes of a tactful, sym- 
pathetic superintendent who treats his co-workers with that 
respect and consideration which always characterize the 
real leader. 

Loyalty. — The relation of superintendent to teachers 
should also always be characterized by unswerving loyalty 
to one another and to the highest and best interests of the 
schools which they have been elected to serve. All claims 
to respect are forfeited by the superintendent who is so 
lacking in frankness and courage that he will hesitate to 
tell the teachers themselves of their incompetency and 
failure which he is free to discuss in their absence. To 
recommend teachers for dismissal without having tried 
in every reasonable way to help them to succeed, or without 
having notified them of the intended recommendation is 
unfair and unjust. Teachers who are given due considera- 
tion and fair treatment by a frank, courageous, loyal super- 
intendent, and who will not loyally respond to all the 
reasonable requirements made by him, should be promptly 
notified that their disloyalty will not be tolerated and that, 
if persisted in, their dismissal will certainly follow. In 
the administration of either a government or a school 
system there is no place for traitors. 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT 



157 




XI 

THE POWER OF SENTIMENT 

HEREVER we go, under whatever conditions 
we are placed, by whatever circumstances we 
are surrounded, we always find a constant, power- 
ful force at work, molding character, directing energy, 
stimulating effort, and to a very great extent guiding and 
controlling the thoughts, actions, and destinies of the great 
masses of the people. This force we call public sentiment. 

Power of public sentiment. — History is largely a record 
of what has been accomplished for humanity by the force 
of this public sentiment. Tyrannical forms of government 
have crumbled into dust and upon their ruins have been 
built up governments of the people, by the people, for the 
people, largely as the result of a public sentiment which 
demanded that human rights should be recognized and 
human freedom guaranteed. Political parties have gone 
down to defeat and in their stead other parties have arisen 
only to meet the same fate when they have failed either 
to recognize or to obey public sentiment. Corrupt forms 
of rehgion, based upon superstition and hatred, have 
been compelled to die as they should. In their place has 
come the religion of faith in God and love for men, the 
outgrowth of a sentiment born of and developed by Him 
who spake as never man spake. 

Public sentiment and law, — In current events — history 
in the making — can constantly be seen the results of the 

159 



l6o SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

influence of this same public sentiment. In some com- 
munities there is a well-developed public sentiment which 
sanctions the laws enacted for their government and 
demands that these laws be rigidly enforced both in letter 
and in spirit. In other communities similar laws are 
ignored or openly and flagrantly violated, because the 
public sentiment is either indifferent to law enforcement or 
openly defiant against the restrictions which these laws 
impose. Laws which are not the crystallization of an 
intelligent public sentiment and which do not, therefore, 
meet the approval of a majority of the people to whom they 
apply, are usually dead letters upon the statute books. 
Such laws are really a menace to the welfare of any govern- 
ment in so far as they at least indirectly lower respect 
for authority and teach disobedience to law. 

The fundamental principle in law enactment and enforce- 
ment, that law should represent intelligent public sentiment 
to make it enforceable, is now quite generally recognized 
in legislating upon all questions relating to the public 
welfare, such as sanitation and the prevention and cure of 
disease. Even in legislating upon great moral issues, such 
as temperance, the same principle is generally recognized. 

Public sentiment and education. — In the development 
of such public sentiment education is the largest factor. 
In the work of educating public sentiment to favor measures 
of health and to oppose the evils due to intemperance the 
public schools have been a mighty influence. For a quarter 
of a century, the teachers in these schools have carefully 
instilled into the minds and hearts of their pupils lessons in 
physiology with special reference to the laws of health and 
to the evil effects of alcohol and narcotics upon the human 



THE POWER OF SENTIMENT l6l 

system. No doubt, some of this teaching has been un- 
scientific and poorly done. But the beneficial results of it 
are to-day everywhere manifest in an awakened intelligence 
relating to both individual and public health and in an 
aroused conscience on the temperance question. That the 
two questions uppermost in the public mind to-day are 
those of sanitation and temperance is due in a large measure 
to the work of the public schools in training a new generation 
of citizens who, as the result of such training, think in- 
telligently upon questions of public welfare and feel 
deeply upon questions of moral significance. 

Some well-intentioned but inconsiderate people think 
that the mere passage of a law will insure the immediate 
correction of a wrong or a sworn allegiance to the right. 
Such people seem to imagine that if there were only laws 
providing for piety and wealth, we should all awaken some 
morning both righteous and rich, without any effort on 
our own part. As a result of such agitation, without the 
education which should always accompany agitation in the 
interests of any worthy cause, the statute books of all the 
different states in the Union and of the Union, itself, are 
not infrequently encumbered with laws which have no good 
reason for existence. 

An interesting experiment in government. — There is a 
tradition that, at one time, an absolute monarch in a 
moment of good-natured indulgence gave to his subjects 
the right to elect a legislature to enact laws for the public 
good. In this grant of power to the people there was a 
distinct provision that any one who presented a bill for 
consideration with the purpose of having it enacted into 
law must do so with a noose around his neck. In the event 

OUR PUB. S. — II 



1 62 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

that his bill became a law and proved to be a real benefit 
to the people, because it provided for a public need, rep- 
resented intelligent pubKc sentiment, and was, therefore, 
capable of enforcement, the noose would at once be re- 
moved and the lawmaker be given his full freedom. Should 
the opposite conditions prevail, however, and the enacted 
law prove to be harmful and worthless because it failed 
to meet a real need, or to represent real public sentiment, 
and, therefore, be incapable of enforcement, the noose 
would be tightened and the lawmaker be removed from the 
scene of action. It is not difficult to imagine what would 
happen were such a provision in force in our state and 
national governments at the present time. One of two 
results would certainly follow — either fewer unnecessary 
and harmful laws would be enacted or an increasing number 
of legislators who are responsible for such laws would 
suffer the penalty provided for them. 

How sentiment influences conduct. — Public sentiment 
is also a large factor in determining the conduct of in- 
dividuals in any community. Where public sentiment 
strongly upholds the right and condemns the wrong, it is 
easy to do right and to avoid wrong. Where public senti- 
ment approves acts of questionable morality, withholds 
its disapproval of wrongdoing, or is even indifferent to 
standards of conduct, the natural tendency of all who come 
under the influence of such sentiment is to lower their ideals 
of duty and to become careless in their habits of living. 
Even those whose consciences will not permit them to 
surrender to untoward influences and whose wills are 
strong enough to withstand the force of a degraded public 
sentiment, find the struggle both difficult and constant. 



THE POWER OF SENTIMENT 1 63 

Intelligent public sentiment is a powerful influence not 
only in the enactment of needed legislation and in the 
enforcement of desirable laws in the community, and in 
making it easy to do right and to avoid wrong but also in 
acting as a deterrent to wrongdoing by the public con- 
demnation which it visits on the wrongdoer. No greater 
punishment can come to any one who still has any self- 
respect or any regard for the opinion of his fellow men 
than the knowledge that he is condemned by public sen- 
timent righteously indignant because of some offense 
committed by him. The disgrace and humiliation con- 
nected with such condemnation not infrequently result in 
declining health and sometimes in death itself. It is, 
therefore, exceedingly important that all who are in any 
way responsible for the education and direction of public 
sentiment should exercise great care in order that no in- 
justice be done to any one. Misdirected or uncontrolled 
public sentiment, unwilling to wait until all the facts are 
known or to abide by the decisions of the courts, in moments 
of passion, sometimes manifests itself in the acts of the 
lawless mob so abhorrent to all law-abiding citizens. 

School sentiment. — Just as public sentiment is inti- 
mately related to the life and welfare of a community, so 
school sentiment is equally intimately related to the life 
and welfare of the school. In community Hfe the conduct 
of the great majority of the citizens is neither largely in- 
fluenced nor definitely determined by laws prescribing 
duties and penalties for the violation of such laws, but by 
pubhc sentiment which approves some acts as right and 
disapproves other acts as wrong. In a school the behavior 
of the great majority of the pupils is determined not by the 



164 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

specific rules and regulations prescribed by the teachers or 
other school authorities but by the school sentiment which 
characterizes the school. In a community of high ideals 
of life and living and a strong public sentiment for right 
doing, few laws are needed for the control of the citizens. 
In a school of similar character few rules are necessary for 
the direction of pupils. In a community of low ideals and 
of little regard for properly constituted authority, laws 
cannot be enforced. In a school of low ideals of obedience 
and respectful consideration for teachers, rules are always 
a dead letter. In a community intelligent public sentiment 
is largely the result of education. School sentiment can be 
developed and maintained only by the same process. In a 
community the condemnation of an indignant public 
sentiment is a powerful factor in preventing wrongdoing 
on the part of citizens. In a school, boys and girls usually 
dread the condemnation of their schoolmates and, as a 
result, are often kept from doing wrong. In a community 
misdirected or uncontrolled public sentiment occasionally 
manifests itself in lawless acts against which the sense of 
justice of all good citizens protests and to the abolition of 
which the efforts of all good citizens are constantly directed. 
In a school misdirected or hastily formed school sentiment 
or opinion, unless wisely restrained by competent teachers, 
may occasionally work serious injury to a suspected but 
innocent pupil. 

Rules of school. — Teachers who understand and appre- 
ciate the great influence which school sentiment exerts in 
the discipline and work of the school place little dependence 
upon rules and regulations. They strive constantly to 
create and maintain such a sentiment among the pupils 



THE POWER OF SENTIMENT 165 

as will make good behavior the surest means of securing 
the good opinion of their schoolmates and the approval 
of their teachers. On the other hand, the pupils will be 
made to feel that the one certain punishment resulting from 
misbehavior will be condemnation by their schoolmates 
and disapproval by their teachers. An occasional rule 
with a definite punishment for its transgression may be 
necessary to meet some special offense in the school just 
as a few laws with prescribed penalties for their violation 
are needed to punish the crimes and misdemeanors of a few 
individuals in society who are not amenable to the demands 
of public sentiment. 

Occasionally there may still be found a teacher with his 
code of. rules for the government of the school, but for- 
tunately this type is rapidly becoming extinct. Within 
the last few years, however, a representative of this dis- 
appearing race called at the ofhce of a state superintendent 
of public instruction, in company with his daughter, who 
was attempting to teach a district school in the county in 
which the state capital was located. The father had been a 
teacher himself in the ^' good old days " when pupils 
were informed what not to do by a code of rules posted 
in a conspicuous place in the schoolroom. He at once 
stated that he had called upon the state superintendent to 
ask what authority a board of education had in administer- 
ing the affairs of the school. He was informed that the 
board had full authority to direct the schools under their 
control. He then inquired whether or not it was the duty 
of the board to make rules for the government of the children 
in school. In replying to this, the state superintendent 
suggested that, under ordinary conditions, very few rules, 



1 66 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

if any, are necessary or desirable, and asked the father to 
state the nature of the difficulty encountered by his daughter 
in teaching the school and what action he thought necessary 
on the part of the board of education, to help her in over- 
coming the difficulty. The reply was that his daughter 
was greatly annoyed by whispering in school and that he 
thought the board should make a rule prohibiting it. To 
this only one response could be made, viz. that such 
annoyances as whispering cannot be regulated by rules. 
The disappointment which this response gave to the 
visitors was plainly manifest. The young teacher returned 
to her school, perhaps sadder, certainly no wiser, and 
doomed to the inevitable failure which must come to any 
teacher who imagines that success in discipline is dependent 
upon rules which prohibit wrong conduct by pupils. 

The importance of a strong school sentiment is evident 
to all teachers who have sensible theories regarding school 
discipline, or who have had successful experience in the 
management of a real school. It is not, therefore, necessary 
to discuss at length the necessity of cultivating such a 
sentiment in the life of the school. It is important, how- 
ever, that careful consideration be given to the fundamental 
factors which enter into successful school management and 
to the intimate relation which the creation and mainte- 
nance of a wholesome school sentiment bear to the success 
of both helpful discipline and effective teaching. 



XII 

SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND REGULAR 
ATTENDANCE 

SINCE no school can hope for any large degree of 
success without regular and prompt attendance, it 
is imperative that this necessary factor should 
receive primary attention. Irregular attendance and 
habitual tardiness of even a few pupils have a demoralizing 
effect upon the entire school. Successful teachers, there- 
fore, always strive so to direct the sentiment of the school 
that regular and prompt attendance is considered an honor 
not only to the individual pupil but also to the school of 
which he is a part. When the proper school sentiment 
exists, inexcusable absence and unnecessary tardiness are 
certain to meet with the condemnation of the school whose 
pupils have a just pride in its standing and rightfully 
resent anything which injures its good name. 

Rules powerless when opposed by school sentiment. — 
In securing prompt and regular attendance, rules are of 
little or no value, while school sentiment is all powerful. 
An inspection of school attendance statistics will not un- 
frequently show that in one district of a township the 
percentage of the enumeration enrolled and the percentage 
of the enrollment in regular daily attendance are unusually 
large, with a correspondingly small number of cases of 
tardiness. In another district of the same township, with 
precisely the same physical conditions, exactly opposite 

167 



1 68 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

conditions prevail. Sometimes in the same grade of the 
same building of a city school, one room will have an almost 
perfect attendance record with little or no tardiness; 
another room across the hall will keep the truant ofhcer 
busy looking after unexcused cases of absence and will be 
constantly annoyed by an ever increasing number of cases 
of tardiness. The marked difference in results achieved 
in attendance in different schools in country, town, or 
city is due largely to the difference in school sentiment 
created and maintained by different teachers. One 
accurate test of teaching is the character of the school 
sentiment which it produces. 

The value of regularity and promptness. — In order that 
a wholesome school sentiment may be developed among the 
pupils with reference to prompt and regular attendance, 
it is imperative that their teachers, principals, and superin- 
tendents shall have positive convictions as to the value of 
promptness and regularity in the life of all who are to hope 
to succeed. Irregular attendance and a large amount of tar- 
diness should be looked upon as the two things most detri- 
mental to the entire school, as well as to the individual pupil. 

With the united, determined, and persistent effort of 
teachers, and those who direct and supervise them, school 
sentiment can be so molded that, in a short time, the care- 
lessness and indifference of pupils in regard to regular and 
prompt attendance will be replaced with a determination 
to make the attendance as nearly perfect as conditions will 
permit and to eliminate in so far as possible all tardiness. 

A careful study of the subject of attendance and tardiness 
will convince any one that in most instances the irregular 
pupil and the tardy pupil are one and the same; that 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND REGULAR ATTENDANCE 1 69 

tardiness is almost never necessary ; that the habitually 
tardy pupil is usually the one who lives nearest to the school, 
has the fewest out-of-school duties to perform and, there- 
fore, has the least excuse for tardiness ; that irregularity 
in attendance seldom results from anything except the 
indifference or carelessness of children or parents ; and 
that the overwhelming majority of pupils, when properly 
instructed and directed, are both regular and prompt in 
their attendance at school. 

What was done in one school. — As a practical illustra- 
tion of what can be accomplished in a few months by the 
united efforts of teachers in securing regularity in attend- 
ance and in eliminating tardiness, the following brief 
summary of the report of the superintendent of schools 
in a town located in one of the north central states is here 
given : 



Month 



Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Feb. 



Q 

W 

W O 
« g 



832 
840 

835 

825 

845 
830 






w 


5 


< 5 





z 


bo 


Uq 


OS •z 
H q 
a 1-1 


•z 








H 
H 


s5 




^ 


< 


fl^ 


^ 


762 


732 


96 


31 


808 


783 


97 


19 


814 


794 


97-4 


14 


801 


783 


97-7 


6 


804 


778 


96.8 


I 


784 


762 


97 






2; 
m Q 

•-I i; 



428 

535 
547 
577 
507 
490 



The starting point of the reform which produced the 
rather remarkable results indicated in this summary was 
the discovery by the newly elected superintendent that, in 



lyo SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

the high school, in the first few days after the school 
opened, there had been several cases of tardiness, the 
majority of which were due to a girl who lived within a 
square of the high-school building, and all of which were 
unnecessary and inexcusable. This discovery led to an 
investigation which revealed that the school sentiment 
was at such a low ebb that many pupils were utterly in- 
different to the importance of prompt and regular attend- 
ance upon their school duties. With a firm belief that the 
future success of the school depended in a large measure 
upon the elimination of this indifference by means of the 
cultivation of a wholesome school sentiment in favor of 
prompt and regular attendance, the teachers and superin- 
tendent united in a determined and enthusiastic effort to 
bring about the necessary change. By a little tactful 
management the determination and enthusiasm which 
characterized this effort of the teachers were easily im- 
parted to the minds and hearts of the children and with 
unanimity of sentiment and effort among pupils and 
teachers, excellent results naturally followed. Every ef- 
fort was made to encourage promptness and to concentrate 
sentiment in its favor. Every room was closely watched. 
The pupils soon found that tardiness was in bad repute 
not only in one room but in all rooms. The frown of dis- 
approval certain to meet any one who came late and thereby 
spoiled the record of his room became a large factor in the 
elimination of tardiness. The simple request of the super- 
intendent that the pupils who were tardy the previous 
day, week, or month, without good excuse, should stand 
before the school was looked upon as a punishment to be 
avoided by not being tardy. 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND REGULAR ATTENDANCE 171 

In one of the overcrowded primary rooms enrolling 
eighty pupils, the attendance, with the exception of two 
boys, was excellent. These boys seemed to care for nothing 
which ordinarily influences the conduct of children. They 
were very irregular in their attendance and quite fre- 
quently tardy. Although the excellent teacher in charge 
of the school had put forth every effort to change their 
attitude and improve their attendance, no results for the 
better were manifest. The children became indignant, 
and finally one day at noon, a little six-year-old came into 
the room and in an excited manner informed the teacher 
that they could not make " them bad boys " go home. The 
teacher, not understanding what was meant, inquired 
into the trouble and found that " them bad boys " were the 
two irregular pupils who had been waited upon by a very 
large committee of their classmates who, feeling disgraced 
by the way in which they were acting, had tried to make 
them go home. 

Relation of tardiness and attendance. — No doubt some 
readers will be ready to say at this point that while the 
cultivation of such a school sentiment may tend to reduce 
tardiness, the final result will be that the dread of being 
tardy will become so great that many pupils will remain 
away entirely rather than come to school a few minutes 
late. While this may occasionally occur in a school 
taught by a teacher who has not the skill to control the 
sentiment of the school, such instances are exceedingly rare. 
In the school referred to in this discussion, out of an enroll- 
ment of nearly nine hundred children, only ten cases of 
this kind occurred in the five months included in the sum- 
marized report found at the beginning of this chapter, and 



172 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

these in the first month or two. In the last two months only 
one case occurred. The universal testimony of all the 
teachers was that as tardiness decreased the attendance 
grew better. Without a single exception, the rooms having 
the least tardiness in any one of the five months had the 
largest per cent of attendance and the largest number of pupils 
neither absent nor tardy. The summary shows the same 
results for the entire school. It will be noted that in 
September, with a per cent of attendance of 96 and with 
428 pupils neither absent nor tardy, there were 31 cases of 
tardiness ; in October, with the per cent of attendance 97, 
and with 535 pupils neither absent nor tardy, the number 
of cases of tardiness was reduced to 19; in November the 
number of cases of tardiness was still further reduced to 
15, while the per cent of attendance was 97.4, and the 
number neither absent nor tardy was 547 ; in December 
there were only 6 cases of tardiness, with the per cent of 
attendance increased to 97.7, and the number neither absent 
nor tardy 577. The decrease in the per cent of attendance 
and in the number neither absent nor tardy in January, 
when there was only one case of tardiness, and again in 
February, when there was not a single case of tardiness in 
the entire school, was due entirely to sickness, including 
several cases of measles and a few cases of scarlet fever, 
which compelled a number of the most regular and punctual 
pupils to remain at home. 

While each teacher must, in a large measure, be respon- 
sible for the sentiment and discipline in her own room, 
it is the duty, and should be the pleasure, of every principal 
and superintendent to aid the teacher in every way possible 
in the cultivation of a proper school sentiment and in the 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND REGULAR ATTENDANCE 1 73 

right discipline of the school. There are at least two im- 
portant ways in which such aid can be given. 

In nearly every school there are a few children, just as 
in nearly every community there are a few men and women, 
who care nothing for the good opinion of those with whom 
they associate. Such children are indifferent to any school 
sentiment, however wholesome and uplifting it may be. 
In deahng with at least some of these pupils, the teacher has 
a right to expect that the principal or superintendent shall 
give sympathetic advice and occasionally a helping hand. 

The superintendent or principal can also be of great 
assistance to teachers in creating and maintaining proper 
school sentiment and right school discipline by friendly 
conferences with parents whose children may not be living 
up to their best in their school life. In such conferences 
parents should be treated with all the respect which is 
their due, but also with a firmness which will command their 
respect for the school and its teachers. Usually parents 
will readily respond to the courteous appeals of teachers to 
help them in making the school a success by sending their 
children to school regularly and on time. In a few in- 
stances, how^ever, parents can be found who think that, if 
pupils prepare their lessons well, and are in school, espe- 
cially the high school, in time to recite, all reasonable 
requirements have been met. Such parents need to be 
shown that the preparation and recital of lessons, while 
exceedingly important, do not include all of school life 
and that the good of the school as a whole, as well as the 
welfare of the individual pupil in forming right habits of 
conduct, requires that all pupils shall cheerfully respond 
to all reasonable requirements of the school. 



174 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

The school records. — Weekly and monthly reports of 
the whole school, in which the attendance, tardiness, and 
other important matters of interest in each room are given 
prominence, should be made out carefully, regularly, and 
promptly by the superintendent or principal. These 
reports should be printed on a duplicating machine, which 
should be a part of the equipment of every school, and a 
copy placed in each room, where pupils and teachers can 
see it and thus be enabled not only to note the record made 
by their own school but also to compare this record with 
that of other schools. By tactful management of the 
teachers of the different schools, a helpful rivalry in securing 
regular attendance and in eliminating tardiness can be 
created in all the schools. 

The teacher as a model. — While no definite rules can 
be prescribed for the cultivation of a wholesome school 
sentiment in favor of regularity and promptness, all teachers 
who hope to succeed in creating or maintaining such senti- 
ment must possess and constantly cultivate two very 
important characteristics. 

No teacher can hope to create a sentiment in favor of 
promptness on the part of children who is not a model of 
promptness herself. This promptness must be habitual 
and must show itself in all her acts, outside of the school- 
room as well as in it. Very little credit is due any teacher 
for being on time in the performance of the ordinary, daily 
duties of the school. The rules of any well-directed school 
require promptness of all teachers and no teacher can hope 
to retain her position for any length of time and fail to 
meet this reasonable requirement. Boys and girls know 
this and are not, therefore, greatly influenced by the prompt- 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND REGULAR ATTENDANCE 1 75 

ness of their teachers in school. They are, however, pro- 
foundly influenced for good or ill by the habits of their 
teachers outside of school. A concrete illustration, drawn 
from an actual experience of a superintendent of schools, 
will serve to make this plain. 

This superintendent, upon special invitation of the boys 
of one of the grammar grades of the school under his 
direction, joined them on a Saturday picnic excursion, 
knowing that on such an occasion the boys would reveal 
their real nature, as boys never do in the schoolroom. Rest- 
ing under a tree within hearing distance of a group of the 
liveliest boys in the school, he heard a most interesting con- 
versation relating to their teacher. The culmination of this 
conversation was the following most suggestive comment 
from the leader of the group : 

"She needn't always be talking to me about coming to school on 
time. I'm in her Sunday School class and she's late every Sunday." 

Appreciation of the efforts of pupils. — A second necessary 
characteristic of the teacher who hopes to succeed in creat- 
ing and maintaining a proper school sentiment in favor of 
regularity and promptness, or any other school virtue, is a 
cheerful readiness to show appreciation of the efforts of 
the pupils to come to school every day on time, or to do any- 
thing which will add to the good name of the entire school, 
and to the welfare of the individual pupil. In this work, 
the superintendent or principal with an interest in all the 
schools should exert a most helpful influence. In the town 
whose schools are the subject of frequent reference in this 
chapter, an opportunity came for the superintendent 
to help in a manner which was greatly appreciated by the 



176 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

children and which served to crystallize a strong sentiment 
among them for regular and prompt attendance. 

On one morning the ground was so icy that walking was 
dangerous. All the teachers feared that a large majority 
of the pupils would not come at all, but all were most 
pleasantly surprised to find that over ninety per cent of the 
children were in school on time. When this information 
was telephoned to the superintendent, he immediately 
determined that a fine opportunity had come to him to put 
forth extra eft'ort to show his appreciation of the extra 
effort of the boys and girls, under unfavorable conditions. 
With considerable difficulty each room of the four different 
buildings was visited, in order that the pupils might know 
that the superintendent, who had to walk much farther 
than any of them over the same icy pavements, was 
genuinely grateful to them for being in school when it was 
so difficult to come. In order to show appreciation in a 
practical manner, the children in each room were informed 
that the school board of the town were also so well pleased 
with their attendance that morning that they had directed 
that the schools should remain in session in the forenoon for 
a half hour longer than usual and that the pupils should be 
dismissed for the remainder of the day. The hearty ap- 
plause which greeted this announcement in each room still 
rings in the ears of that superintendent and will always 
remain with him in memory as the sincere expression of 
gratitude of the boys and girls who were happy in the 
knowledge that their efforts to reach school on time under 
difficulty were appreciated by their teachers, their superin- 
tendent, and the school board. This incident had no little 
to do with crystallizing the sentiment of the pupils in favor 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND REGULAR ATTENDANCE 1 77 

of the regularity and promptness which were shown in such 
a marked way in the months and years which followed in 
their school days and in developing fixed habits of life after 
school days were over. 

Getting acquainted with the parents. — Another im- 
portant aid in securing regular and prompt attendance in 
school is found in home visitation by teachers and principals 
or superintendents, with the purpose of showing their 
interest in the welfare of the children and of determining 
the causes of absence and tardiness when they exist. 
Referring once more to the school to which attention has 
been frequently called, an illustration of the effectiveness 
of this home visitation will be found, which may be sugges- 
tively helpful to teachers. 

In the month of October, it will be noted in the report, 
there were nineteen cases of tardiness in the entire school. 
Seven of these were caused by the pupils attending a colored 
school taught by an excellent colored teacher who became 
very much discouraged by what seemed to him the hope- 
less task of getting the children of a few families to come 
to school on time. In company with the teacher the 
superintendent visited the homes from which these children 
came. The parents were plainly and frankly told how 
unfavorably the school which their children attended 
compared with the other schools of the town. The deter- 
mination of teachers to break up the tardiness which resulted 
entirely from carelessness was discussed and an appeal 
was made to the parents to aid in the work. Several visits 
were made to one of these homes before the mother was 
seen. These repeated visits were made necessary because 
the mother, finding out in some way that the calls were 

OUR PUB. S. 12 



178 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

about to be made, would go out of the back door and 
disappear down the alley, as her callers entered the front 
gate. Upon being captured finally, as the result of a flank 
movement, the old colored woman stood trembling in the 
presence of her visitors, evidently almost overcome with 
fear. It was soon learned that her strange actions were due 
to the fact that an older boy was in jail because of some 
misdemeanor, and the mother imagined that the young 
boy who was attending school had also gotten into trouble 
of some kind. When assured by her visitors that they had 
come on a kindly errand to find out why her boy was not 
in school regularly and on time and to ask her to help in 
keeping him in school, she broke down completely and with 
a pathetic earnestness never to be forgotten by the visitors, 
she thanked them for their interest and added, " I never 
knowed before that anybody cared for my boy." 

As a result of the visits to these homes, the month 
following there were only three cases of tardiness in the 
colored school, the succeeding month only two cases, while 
in January and February, there was no tardiness at all. 
The attendance also greatly improved to the benefit of the 
school and the satisfaction of the teacher. Another and 
far more important result of the visits was the greatly in- 
creased interest and sympathy of the teacher and superin- 
tendent aroused thereby in homes of the type visited. Not 
infrequently in homes of this class, occupied by white as 
well as colored people, there is a feeling that no one cares 
for the welfare of the children in them. In many instances 
a friendly visit by the teacher will be the beginning of a new 
interest of both children and parents in the work of the 
school. This new interest will often change indifference 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND REGULAR ATTENDANCE 1 79 

to cooperation and thereby not only relieve the teachers 
of much annoyance and sometimes serious trouble, but 
will also save the children from the formation of habits 
which have much to do with failure in after life. 

Importance of regular and prompt attendance. — Possibly 
some persons who read this chapter will object to placing 
so much emphasis upon the regular and prompt attendance 
of pupils in school. It may be claimed by them that 
tardiness is not immoral and that it is, therefore, wrong to 
create a school sentiment which condemns it so severely. 
To such criticism the one decisive answer is that un- 
necessary tardiness is immoral, at least in the sense in 
which it is unjust, not only to the person whose tardiness 
greatly hinders his own success, but also to all others who 
suffer in loss of valuable time and in disarrangement of 
carefully made plans, because some one is late. The laws 
of the land provide severe punishment for any one who robs 
another of material wealth, but there is no recourse open 
to any one who is robbed of valuable time by another 
who has no conscience in keeping engagements promptly 
and who has no appreciation of the value of time to a busy 
person or any realization of the serious inconvenience 
caused by his unnecessary tardiness. 

Success or failure in Hfe depends very largely upon habits 
formed in childhood. Among the habits which are funda- 
mental in character and success, the habit of regularity 
and promptness holds a most important place. In order 
that this habit may be cultivated it is legitimate and right 
that school sentiment shall be so developed and directed as 
to commend strongly regularity and promptness and to 
condemn severely irregularity and tardiness. 



XIII 

SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND GOOD BEHAVIOR 

A FTER the establishment of a school sentiment 
/-% which brings children to school on time and which 
keeps them in school, in so far as possible, every 
day, the teacher's attention and effort should be centered 
upon the creation and maintenance of a strong school 
sentiment in favor of good behavior on the part of pupils. 
Good behavior means much more than good order as the 
latter phrase is ordinarily used. In the minds of some 
teachers, the demands of good order are fully met when 
pupils keep quiet in the schoolroom. Perfect order which 
manifests itself in the stillness of death may result from 
the exercise of mere physical force by a teacher who thereby 
frightens his pupils into keeping still. On the other hand 
good behavior must, to a large extent, be the result of an 
inner desire on the part of pupils to do right because it is 
right and to avoid doing wrong because it is wrong. This 
desire is best cultivated by living in a school atmosphere 
due to a school sentiment in favor of what is right and 
opposed to what is wrong. 

Non-responsive pupils. — Every one who has success- 
fully taught school knows that there is an occasional pupil 
who will not respond to such a school sentiment and who 
can be influenced in his behavior for the right only by a 
wholesome fear of punishment for willful wrongdoing. 
In rare instances such punishment must be inflicted and 

i8o 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND GOOD BEHAVIOR l8l 

no silly sentimentalism should keep a teacher from doing 
his duty when such instances arise. 

It may be true that punishment is a relic of barbarism. 
It is certainly true that an occasional barbarian finds his 
way into the public schools, who can be civilized only by 
making use of the relic. It is much better for such a 
barbarian to be civilized, even by means of punishment, 
than to grow up a law-defying citizen and, in later life, 
pay a severe penalty for some crime or misdemeanor 
committed by him. In the great majority of instances, 
however, good behavior of pupils can be secured without 
thought or fear of punishment. The stronger the school 
sentiment for good behavior among the pupils in school, 
the less the need of discipline by the teacher. 

Behavior of pupils out of school. — When the sentiment 
of the school is strongly in favor of good behavior and when 
high ideals of proper conduct are constantly held up before 
the pupils by teachers who practice what they teach, the 
results will be plainly seen not only in the schoolroom, but 
also outside of it. Normal children, when properly trained 
and directed, love order rather than disorder. They enjoy 
marching in and out of school with systematic precision. 
They know that in their play right conduct and fair deal- 
ing are absolutely necessary to the success of the game. 
Even in going to and from school the effects of a proper 
sentiment for good behavior among children will be mani- 
fest. Many communities can bear testimony to the marked 
difference in conduct of school boys and girls, when outside 
of school, under the direction of different teachers. A resi- 
dent of a village, upon returning to his home after an ab- 
sence of several months, observed a decided improvement in 



1 82 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

the behavior of the pupils of the public school as they passed 
his residence, a half mile away from the schoolhouse. He 
could hardly realize that they were the same boys and girls 
who, the previous year, had greatly annoyed the whole 
neighborhood by trespassing upon lawns, invading or- 
chards, and in many other ways making themselves a 
general nuisance to the community. He at once surmised 
that the change for the better was due to a change in the 
principalship of the school. He found upon inquiry that 
this was true. A new principal had come to town and 
with his coming and under his leadership a different senti- 
ment had been aroused in the school and a difference in 
the behavior of the school children necessarily followed. 

The wrong way. — In some of the old-time country 
schools — no doubt duplicates of them can still be found 
— no attention was paid to the behavior of pupils either 
going out of or coming into the schoolhouse. When the 
hour of dismissal came, or rather after it was passed, for 
too often the school was " let out " late, the teacher's 
laconic statement " dismissed " was followed by a scene 
which can be visualized or even imagined only by those 
who have been actors in the " comedy " or " tragedy " 
which took place. To the older boys and girls, who were 
strong enough to escape unharmed in the midst of the 
rush for the door, the performance partook of the nature 
of comedy, for mirth certainly predominated and the ter- 
mination of the plot was happy, to paraphrase the lan- 
guage of Noah Webster. To the younger children, who 
had to crawl under the seats or seek other places of safety 
until the human cyclone passed by, tragedy much more 
accurately described the event which had every promise 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND GOOD BEHAVIOR 1 83 

of being a " fatal and mournful one," to quote again the 
words of the great lexicographer. When school " took 
up " either in the morning or after recess or noon, the 
opposite conditions prevailed. The youngest and most 
helpless of the children were in no danger of harm from 
any undue haste of the older pupils to enter. They had 
abundance of time to take their seats without any chance 
of collision with their larger brothers and sisters who saun- 
tered into the schoolhouse in a leisurely manner which 
indicated that a wonderful reaction had taken place in 
their nervous system since they had gone out with such 
tremendous energy and rapidity. 

At the noon hour very little time was used in eating the 
dinner which had been carefully and amply provided by 
the mothers of the children. Great " efficiency " was 
shown in the swiftness of movement exhibited by the 
pupils in opening their dinner buckets or baskets. The 
amount of time devoted to eating inside the schoolroom 
depended entirely upon the state of the weather. If 
rainy or stormy weather prevailed and prevented outdoor 
games, a few minutes might be devoted to swallowing a 
good portion of the large supply in store. If the weather 
at all permitted a game of ball or other outdoor sports, the 
only food consumed was such as could be transported to 
the playground in the hands of the children. The amount 
thus consumed depended upon the length of time which 
intervened between the minute of dismissal and the minute 
at which the consumer " went to bat " or entered upon the 
fulfillment of some other important athletic engagement 
which must be promptly met, whether any dinner was eaten 
or not. 



184 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

The right way. — Into a school of this type with little 
or no sentiment in favor of becoming behavior in relation 
to the habits of order and decency, there once came a 
teacher of real culture and rare refinement. In every 
sense of the word, he was by nature and training a true 
gentleman. At the first noon hour, the school was thrown 
into a state of consternation by his quiet but commanding 
announcement that fifteen minutes of the time would be 
taken to eat dinner, the pupils being directed to take their 
dinners to their seats and to sit down in an orderly manner 
while eating. The pupils, especially the larger boys, gazed 
at one another and at the teacher in open-eyed wonder, as 
they silently surrendered to this starthng innovation which 
seemed to them to require a wicked waste of time. They 
could eat but httle because of a difficulty in swallowing 
due to the inaction of their salivary glands, produced by 
the surprise resulting from the unexpected situation into 
which they had so suddenly been thrown. The fifteen 
minutes seemed an age to them. In that brief space of 
time, however, they learned from the example of their 
teacher a lesson in good behavior, not found in books, but 
of vital importance in their future happiness and success. 
They saw this teacher take a napkin from his dinner basket 
and spread it neatly on his desk. On this napkin he placed 
the food which he wanted to eat and then proceeded to 
eat it with due regard to the usages of good society and 
the requirements of common decency. Fortunately for 
the future comfort and welfare of the teacher, he showed 
that he was human by observing at the close of the meal 
that he would join the boys in a game of ball. 

More than one pupil who attended that school and thus 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND GOOD BEHAVIOR 1 85 

came under the civilizing influence of the strong school 
sentiment for good behavior in its broadest and truest 
sense, developed under the leadership of that teacher, can 
look back upon the first noon hour of the school taught 
by him, and the lesson in proper behavior in eating which 
came with it, as an important experience in life. 

Supervision of play. — The playground affords an ex- 
cellent opportunity for the cultivation of a strong school 
sentiment in favor of the best things in school life and in 
the behavior of boys and girls. To what extent the play 
of children should be supervised or directed is still an open 
question. Under normal conditions, normal children need 
little, if any, supervision or direction in their play. Usually 
they know what games they want to play and how and 
when they want to play them. Unfortunately, however, 
there are some abnormal children who seem to be devoid 
of the play instinct and who need to be saved from them- 
selves by being taught how to play and how to enjoy the 
company of other children. Instead of being permitted to 
stay in the schoolroom buried in a book, or to stand around 
alone on the playground at recess, such children should be 
encouraged, even to the extent of kindly compulsion, to 
join in the games of the school. Children of this type 
furnish their teachers excellent opportunities for the exer- 
cise of the highest order of tact and of the most sympathetic 
patience. 

In these days of crowded districts in the cities and of 
sparsely settled districts in the country, abnormal condi- 
tions exist of an exactly opposite type but both of which 
are unfavorable to play. In the crowded districts of the 
cities lack of sufficient room in which to play creates a 



1 86 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

condition which demands relief and which is being rapidly 
remedied in all progressive cities whose citizens have an 
appreciation of the necessity of play in the physical, mental, 
and moral education of children. Ample playgrounds for 
all children of the city are fully as important a part of the 
equipment of the school as the buildings in which the 
schools are held. 

In the sparsely settled districts of the country, the at- 
tendance at school is frequently so small that it is impossible 
to arouse any enthusiasm in the games which appeal with 
so much force to children when there are a sufhcient number 
to play them. In such schools the difficulty is increased 
by the type of games now most popular with the public. 
It is rather difficult to organize a team for baseball, foot- 
ball, or basketball in a country school whose total enroll- 
ment ranges from six to ten, about equally divided between 
boys and girls. Even when the enrollment of a country 
school is normal and reaches twenty to thirty, it is not an 
easy task under present conditions and with the modern 
ideas of games, to organize the play of the children so as 
to make it appeal to all classes and all ages. In the play 
of the children as well as in their studies, the centralized 
school is proving its worth and necessity. 

Old-time school games. — To schools of all kinds there 
would come real benefit, could there be a renewal of the 
playing of some of the old games in which few or many 
can take part. The present tendency of both the elemen- 
tary and high schools of village and town to ape the colleges 
and universities in athletics is harmful both to the spirit of 
real play and also to the morals of the boys and girls. The 
impossibility of the country schools' following the example 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND GOOD BEHAVIOR 1 87 

of the village and town -schools in their attempt to conduct 
their games after the fashion of the college and university, 
will account in no small measure for the lack of play of any 
kind in many district schools. No more difficult or impor- 
tant task confronts the teacher of any school, especially the 
small one-room district school, than to foster the play spirit of 
the pupils under his direction. The best work in the school- 
room is impossible without real, recreative, life-giving play 
outside of the schoolroom at the recess and the noon periods. 

While there may be an honest difference of opinion as to 
the advisabihty of supervising and directing the play of 
normal children under normal conditions, there can be no 
doubt as to the necessity of a sympathetic attitude of all 
teachers in relation to the games of the playground. There 
is som.ething abnormally wrong with teachers who have no 
interest in the play of their pupils. All wide-awake teach- 
ers know that the playground offers an opportunity to study 
the characteristics of their pupils which the classroom can- 
not furnish. It is exceedingly unfortunate that there are 
still a few teachers who have not yet learned that the re- 
cess period is fully as important a factor in the education 
of children as the recitation hour. The sentiment of the 
school for good behavior is largely influenced by the stand- 
ards of conduct which prevail on the playground. All 
teachers who prize good behavior and who realize the 
tremendous influence of school sentiment in securing it, 
always show a sympathetic interest in the games played 
by their pupils. 

The teacher on the playground. — Whether a teacher 
should join his pupils in playing games will depend in a 
large measure upon how well he can play them. Repeated 



1 88 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

failure by a teacher to bat a ball will often result in his 
losing the respect of pupils just as certainly as failure to 
make a point in a recitation. Success on the playground, 
on the other hand, often opens up an avenue of approach 
to the hearts of pupils, especially boys of a certain age, who 
can be won in no other way. Other things being equal, the 
athletic teacher has a decided advantage over the teacher 
who has never taken an active part in games or who has 
no personal interest in play. 

In a school located in a college town, a new principal 
took charge. At the first recess, he looked out of his ofhce 
on a game of baseball played between the regular high 
school nine and a '' scrub " team made up of the best re- 
maining players in the school. In addition to the oppor- 
tunity for play which the game furnished, there was a 
strong incentive to all to do their best because of the chance 
which such play offered to the high school team for the 
practice needed in their preparation for games with the 
college students and other high schools. With such an 
incentive to stimulate them, they played well. The pitcher 
of the regular team was an expert even at that time. Later 
on he pitched the team of the college from which he grad- 
uated to victory in many a hard fought battle. The new 
principal thoroughly enjoyed the game of ball but was not 
an expert in playing it. While he felt that he would like 
to join the boys in the game, he was fearful of the outcome 
should he try it. The second day the captain of the team, 
a thoroughly manly fellow who was a leader in all the work 
and life of the school, called at the office of the principal 
and courteously inquired of him whether he ever played 
ball. A hesitating " sometimes" was the reply, which 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND GOOD BEHAVIOR 1 89 

was followed by a pressing invitation by the captain to 
join in their games, assuring the principal that all the 
boys wanted him to do so. To play or not to play was 
the dilemma which confronted the anxious principal. 
Whether 'twere better to decline the invitation with 
thanks, or simply to join the onlookers and ^' root " for 
the game, or to go to bat and, perchance, soon hear the 
unwelcome sentence, " three strikes and out," was not 
easy to decide. The decision was to join actively in the 
game, and trust to the fates, together with the best efforts 
of which he was capable, for a favorable outcome. Cer- 
tainly the fates must have sympathized with the new 
principal that day as he took his place at the plate and, 
with grim determination to do or to die, faced the pitcher. 
All the players were unusually alert and many a knowing 
and suggestive glance passed among them. The pitcher 
with due deliberation threw the ball. The principal struck 
at it and, mirahile dictu, hit it at precisely the right spot, 
in exactly the right way, knocked it outside of the school 
grounds, far out into an adjoining field, and made his first, 
last, and only home run. The remarks which were made 
as he ran the bases and the applause which greeted his 
arrival at the home base were of such a nature as to make 
him feel that the problem of the discipline of the school 
was already at least partially solved. No doubt that 
successful '^ hit " in the baseball game opened the way for 
successful teaching in the classroom and furnished an 
opportunity to get close enough to the boys to help in 
leading them to help the teachers in creating and main- 
taining a strong sentiment for good behavior both in and 
out of the schoolroom. 



I go SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

Teachers who know that they cannot play or who feel 
that they cannot learn to play a game well enough to com- 
mand the respect of their pupils, will do well to dechne to 
play at all. Inability to play, however, is no reason or 
excuse for a lack of interest in play or for a failure to show 
an appreciation of pupils who play well. Teachers who 
have no such interest or who have no inclination or 
desire to express such appreciation are sadly lacking in 
some of the essentials which always characterize leaders 
in influencing the sentiment of the school for good be- 
havior. 

The teacher's example. — Just as in the development 
of a school sentiment in favor of promptness so in the culti- 
vation of a school sentiment in favor of good behavior, the 
personal example of the teacher is an exceedingly important 
factor. ''As is the teacher so is the school," is hterally 
true many times as shown in the conduct of pupils. While 
this fact brings to all conscientious teachers a keen sense 
of their responsibility, it also makes plain to them their 
unusual opportunity to influence the habits of conduct of 
their pupils to a greater extent than is exercised by any 
other agency, with the possible exception of some of the 
better class of homes. Any teacher who sneers at such 
responsibiHty or who makes light of such opportunity 
thereby shows that he has no real appreciation of the real 
work of a real teacher. In practically all schools, the 
conduct of teachers in the schoolroom must accord with 
the highest ideals of morahty. All teachers who have 
conscience enough to feel their responsibility and heart 
enough to realize and to appreciate their opportunity in 
relation to the conduct of their pupils constantly strive 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND GOOD BEHAVIOR IQI 

to furnish a good example by earnestly endeavoring to 
live up to these same ideals outside of school. 

The manner of life of teachers outside of the classroom 
oftentimes has more influence upon the conduct of pupils 
than all that they say and do in the classroom. If the 
conduct of teachers outside of school corresponds with 
their precept and example in school in favor of the best 
things in life, then their influence is greatly strengthened. 
But should their conduct outside of school not measure 
up to the standards set in school, then their influence for. 
good is entirely nullified. It is highly important, there- 
fore, that all teachers who are really desirous of creating 
and maintaining a strong school sentiment in favor of good 
behavior should fully appreciate the important part which 
their own behavior plays in realizing their desires. 

In all respects, teachers should strive to furnish an 
example worthy of imitation, which will be a safe guide to 
right conduct. This is true not only with special reference 
to morals but also in relation to matters of dress, cleanliness, 
neatness, and order, all of which are at least closely related 
to morals, and exercise a decided influence upon the con- 
duct and character of pupils. The order or disorder of a 
teacher's desk will determine in a large measure the order 
or disorder of the desks of the pupils and will have a de- 
cided influence upon the behavior of the school. Well- 
shined shoes worn by the teacher will have more to do in 
influencing the majority of children to clean their shoes 
before coming into the schoolhouse than daily lectures 
upon the subject, and will also affect their general behavior 
in no small degree. 

Some years ago a man of more than ordinary natural 



192 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

ability and of good education failed of reelection as superin- 
tendent of schools in the town which he had served for 
several years. To an outsider, the action of the school 
board in thus failing to reelect him seemed an inexcusable 
injustice. When asked for a reason for the action of the 
board, one of its members, a gentleman of excellent char- 
acter and high standing in the community, who had always 
been friendly to the superintendent, replied substantially 
as follows : 

" He always persisted in wearing a low-cut vest and a 
white necktie, but did not change his linen often enough 
to meet the demands of cleanliness. As a result he lost 
the respect of many pupils, parents, and teachers, and 
thereby lost his influence for good in the schools." 

While this example may illustrate an exceptional case, 
there can be no doubt that many similar instances, differing, 
if at all, only in degree, can be found. Teachers who are 
not cleanly, neat, and orderly do lose the respect of their 
pupils and thereby do lose their influence for good in the 
schools which they teach. 



XIV 

SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND DILIGENT EFFORT 

WITH a school sentiment which secures regular 
and prompt attendance and which insures good 
behavior of the pupils, a safe and secure founda- 
tion upon which to estabhsh a successful school is assured. 
In the establishment of such a school there are certain 
factors of such primary importance as to warrant their 
careful consideration. One of these factors is a strong 
and abiding sentiment in favor of hard work as the only- 
guarantee of success in securing anything worth securing, 
in education as well as in any other worthy cause. 

Hard work leads to success. — In considering the causes 
of retardation of pupils in the public schools, it is well to 
remember that, while some pupils fail to measure up to the 
standards of the school because of inability to do the pre- 
scribed work, perhaps a much larger number fail because 
they are unwilling to work. Some pupils are undoubtedly 
'' born short " and are, therefore, deserving of all the special 
consideration which it is possible for the teachers of the 
public schools to give or for special schools to provide. 
Too much cannot be said in favor of doing all that sym- 
pathy, intelligently directed, can suggest or liberal appro- 
priations of money, wisely used, can furnish, for the better 
education and training of defective children. A much 
larger number of pupils, nowever, are either born lazy or 
have been so pampered by indulgent parents that they 

OUR PUB. S, 13 193 



194 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

have never learned that work on their own part is a neces- 
sity. Such pupils should be given to understand that 
they have no claims upon teachers for special consideration. 
The freaks or fancies of children regarding what they may 
want to do or not want to do, determined by whether they 
imagine the work easy or difficult, should never receive any 
serious consideration by either parents or teachers. Nor- 
mal children, who are properly trained at home and rightly 
taught in school, find just as real pleasure in the work which 
every worthy school demands and secures as in the play 
which every deserving school provides and encourages. 

While it is no doubt true that all work and no play makes 
Jack a dull boy, it is equally true that all play and no work 
invariably fails to make any child or adult either happy, 
contented, or successful. The perfect joy which results 
from real play and restful recreation is possible only to 
those who have experienced the genuine pleasure due to 
purposeful work, conscientiously performed. The child 
who has been so surfeited with play that he does not find 
any joy in it, who has done nothing so long that he is un- 
willing to do anything, who thinks that it is the chief busi- 
ness of the world to entertain or to amuse him, and who will 
not attempt to do anything unless first assured that the 
doing will cost no effort on his part, is an object of pity. 
Such a child presents a serious problem to his teachers. 
Unless his viewpoint of life can be changed and he can be 
made to realize the necessity of work in obtaining an edu- 
cation, he will remain uneducated, no difference how much 
money may be spent upon him by fond parents whose 
foolish indulgence has made it impossible for the best 
schools and teachers to be of any sei^ce to him. 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND DILIGENT EFFORT 1 95 

A foolish and harmful idea. — Unfortunately some 
teachers have become inoculated with the pedagogical 
heresy that children should never be conscious of effort in 
learning or doing anything. They have, therefore, at- 
tempted to turn the schoolroom into a play house and the 
entire teaching and learning process into a game of some 
kind. While it is undoubtedly true that the spirit of play, 
which is characterized by freedom and joy, should always 
dominate the work of the school, it is also true that children 
should learn early in their school experience that work is 
not play. In fact, unless children are misled by foohsh 
teachers and parents, they soon understand the difference 
between play and work and fully realize that the two can- 
not be interchanged without loss to both. 

In a school which posed as the representative of the so- 
called new education, but which in reality misrepresented 
all true education, the primary arithmetic class was called. 
The teacher in charge was an exponent of the spontaneity 
craze which sometimes breaks out in the ranks of teachers. 
Her pupils ranging in age from seven to eight years showed 
by their actions that they had taken full advantage of the 
" new freedom " which had come to them. They both 
acted and reacted in a truly marvelous manner. Motion 
seemed to be the law of their being and the law was in 
constant action. When they came to the class all the 
gaits known to the race track were exhibited. Some 
ran, others paced, a few cantered, still others loped. No 
one walked in an orderly manner. Such a method of 
travel as orderly walking would have been an indication 
of conservatism which the teacher could not, under any 
circumstances, permit, since it would interfere with the 



196 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

free and full development of all the natural powers of the 
children. 

After the majority of the class had arrived some place 
near the vicinity where the recitation in arithmetic was to 
take place, one of the boys, an unusually active, fiesh-and- 
blood specimen, was selected to act as a fairy and was 
given a wand — a long stick, the use of which the disorder 
of the school might have warranted for another purpose — 
with which to perform various acts of a more or less mi- 
raculous nature. The teacher then announced that the 
drama of arithmetic was about to be staged and that the 
first act would be of the blind variety. The fairy at once 
proceeded to pass the wand over the heads of his classmates 
with the purpose of closing their eyes to all their surround- 
ings. For some reason, perhaps because the presence of 
visitors was unfavorable to the perfect action of the wand, 
nearly all the children kept at least one eye partly open. 
Even with this partial blindness, the game of blind arith- 
metic proceeded. The teacher struck a call-bell three 
times, paused a moment, and then again struck the bell 
three times. After sufficient time had elapsed for a com- 
plete realization of the full effect of this wonderful per- 
formance upon the minds of the sightless children, the 
fairy in charge of the show led one of his blind classmates 
to the bell. This blind boy at once struck the bell six 
times with all his might and the immortal truth that three 
and three are six rang out upon the schoolroom air with 
such a volume of sound as to extinguish temporarily all 
other noises, and to announce to the entire school the 
culmination of the first act of the drama. 

In the intermission between acts, the teacher kindly 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND DILIGENT EFFORT 1 97 

explained the '' psychology " of the game by informing her 
visitors that it proved what was at that time generally ac- 
cepted as true by all leading psychologists, viz. that impres- 
sions could reach the brain by the auditory nerve alone. 

Following the brief intermission, the curtain arose on 
the second and final act of the drama. The fairy proceeded 
to restore sight to the blind by passing his wand over the 
heads of the class in a direction opposite to that in which 
it was passed when they were deprived of their sight. 
Pausing a moment so that their eyes might once more be- 
come accustomed to the light, the miracle-performing rod 
was again passed over their heads. In an instant their 
ears were stopped with their own fingers, their tongues 
were palsied by their own efforts, and they became deaf 
to all sound and incapable of speaking to any one. Not- 
withstanding strong circumstantial evidence tending to 
prove that neither perfect deafness nor entire speechlessness 
resulted from the efforts of the fairy, the game of deaf and 
dumb arithmetic proceeded. The teacher held up three 
pieces of crayon in her right hand and the same number in 
her left hand. The pupils with their recently restored 
vision gazed upon the scene for a short time. Then one 
of the deaf and dumb members of the class with great 
spontaneity of movement rushed to the crayon box, took 
out six pieces of crayon and holding them aloft again 
proved that three and three are six. The teacher again 
explained to her visitors the '' psychology " of the game 
by caUing attention to another theory which she informed 
them had also been generally accepted by all leading 
psychologists, viz. that impressions could reach the brain 
by the optic nerve alone. 



198 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

The pupils, having been restored again to their normal 
condition through the agency of the fairy's wand, rushed 
to their different seats, each in his own spontaneous man- 
ner, and each, no doubt, in his heart as completely dis- 
gusted with the entire silly performance as were the visitors, 
whose experience with children both in work and at play 
caused them to feel that such a farce as they had just wit- 
nessed was an insult to the intelligence of childhood and a 
worse than useless waste of valuable time. 

Normal children are never interested in easy tasks. 
They are not even entertained by attempts to deceive 
them into thinking that they can learn anything worth 
knowing incidentally or accidentally and entirely without 
effort on their own part. Their intuition teaches them 
that work is a necessity in doing anything really worth 
doing. 

Lessons of the playground. — The real spirit of childhood 
is usually best shown on the playground. The games which 
appeal with most force and which bring the greatest joy to 
children are never easy ones. Watch the boys on the play- 
ground of a country school. The jumping " epoch " in 
the year's calendar of sports has arrived. Apparently 
without any hint or suggestion from any one, all the boys 
in the neighborhood have been suddenly seized with an 
insatiable desire to jump in any and every direction, up 
and down, in and out, backward and forward. Standing 
jumps, running jumps, high jumps, and hop-step-and- 
jumps are a few of the many varieties indulged in. On this 
particular day the high jump is the special order. The 
simplest and, for that reason, perhaps the best apparatus 
has been provided for use for this particular event. This 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND DILIGENT EFFORT 199 

apparatus consists of. two sharpened sticks with forks on 
them at different distances from their sharpened ends and 
a third stick to be used as a hurdle over which the young 
athletes are to jump. The sharpened sticks are pushed 
into the ground and in their lowest notches the third stick 
is laid. All the boys of all ages and sizes jump over it 
with Httle or no difficulty. No one cares to repeat the 
exercise for the simple reason given by one boy who im- 
patiently observes that anybody can jump that high. He 
enthusiastically asks that the hurdle be put up higher. 
His request is granted. Only a few of the older or the 
more athletic boys are able to perform the more difficult 
task. The others stand by and cheer their more successful 
playmates, and at the same time not only long for the day 
when they can perform the same feat, but with fixed de- 
termination resolve to hasten its arrival by constant prac- 
tice. The hurdle is then placed in the highest notches. 
Only one boy in the entire school is able to jump over it. 
This he proceeds to do with great joy to himself and to the 
intense dehght of all the other boys who admire what he 
has done because it was hard to do. 

Play and work. — In a well-taught school, not only do 
the freedom and joy which are characteristic of the spirit 
of play dominate the work of the pupils in the preparation 
and recital of their daily lessons, but there are also manifest 
the same determined earnestness to excel in the work of the 
school as is shown in the games of the playground, and the 
same willingness to win success by putting forth the neces- 
sary effort to insure it. Just as there are always a few 
pupils who, because of inability, indifference, or laziness, 
do not care to play well, if at all, so there is always a small 



200 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

minority in every school who, for similar reasons, cannot 
be aroused even by the best teachers, aided by the strongest 
school sentiment, to do much, if any, serious work. The 
great majority of pupils, however, when properly taught 
and wisely directed, do respond to the sentiment of a school 
which has high ideals of industry and which demands that 
all credits shall be honestly earned, all honors meritoriously 
won, and all worthy standing of pupils be maintained by 
their doing each day the best work of which they are 
capable. A successful school is always a hard-working 
school. To maintain such standards of work as will in- 
sure success in any school, a strong sentiment in favor of 
hard work is a fundamental necessity. 

In the cultivation of a school sentiment in favor of hard 
work, the personal example of the teacher plays as important 
a part as in the cultivation of a sentiment in favor of prompt- 
ness and good behavior. Devotion to study on the part of 
teachers is contagious and spreads rapidly through an entire 
school. 

The Oneida Institute. — No one who has listened to the 
story of the early struggles of the teachers in Oneida In- 
stitute, located in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, so 
graphically told by its remarkable founder, James H. Burns, 
known as " Burns of the Mountains," can doubt the effec- 
tiveness of the instruction of teachers who, although de- 
ficient in academic training for their work, are on fire with 
a zeal to learn as well as to teach. When the young moun- 
taineers in the school casually learned from a college cata- 
logue, which in some way came to their notice, the require- 
ments for college entrance and then presented these 
requirements to their inadequately prepared teachers for 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND DILIGENT EFFORT 20I 

consideration, consternation followed. To these teachers 
it seemed utterly impossible to teach the required subjects. 
It was in this crisis that the great leader, the head of the 
school, whose academic preparation consisted of ten months 
of schooling in one of the mountain schools and seven 
months in Denison University, Granville, Ohio, " called a 
' faculty meeting,' " to quote his own humorous phrase, 
to determine what could be done for these young students 
who were burning with an intense desire to get an educa- 
tion. The different members of the " faculty " were asked 
whether they thought they could learn as rapidly as the 
students whom they had to teach. All agreed that they 
thought they could. The thought that they could soon 
grew into a determination that they would. Led by this 
determination, the devoted teachers of the school met each 
evening at six o'clock. From that hour until midnight, 
with an earnestness which could not acknowledge defeat, 
they prepared the lessons they were to teach to the boys 
and girls who were equally determined to learn. 

Of course, the formal demands of the colleges that 
students could not enter the freshman class unless they 
had been prepared by college trained teachers recognized 
no exceptions to the rule. All the students trained in 
Oneida Institute had to undergo a rigid examination 
when they presented themselves as prospective college 
students. At first they were examined in the common 
branches taught in the elementary grades. So surprisingly 
satisfactory were the results of this examination, that tests 
were applied to their knowledge of high school branches 
with the result that practically all of them were admitted 
to the freshman class. One of their number was given 



202 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

advanced standing in the sophomore class of a college in 
good and regular standing, a member of the examining 
committee humorously observing that had they kept on 
with the examination, he verily believed that some of the 
students would have graduated from college without 
entering it. The record made by these students while 
in college and their success since graduating from college 
prove beyond a doubt the efhciency of the training they 
received in the Oneida Institute at the hands of teachers 
whose lack of preparation was more than made up by a 
desperate determination to meet a need which could be 
met by no one else. 

The reference to the marked success achieved by Oneida 
Institute, which has no doubt been duplicated in a measure 
at least by other similar schools, is not made with the 
thought that such unusual success even suggests that 
teachers can usually hope to succeed to any great degree 
without thorough preparation for their work. The founder 
of this school and his assistants, who have accomplished so 
much with so little capital of preparatory training and 
equipment, deeply regret this lack of education and train- 
ing for their work. But their success under such unusual 
difficulties and in spite of such marked limitations does 
demonstrate the possibilities of work by determined teach- 
ers and the effect of such work on the pupils whom they 
teach. Could the same devotion to duty and the sarne 
determination to grow in knowledge as characterized the 
founder and teachers of this school of mountaineers in 
Eastern Kentucky take possession of all the teachers who 
have had the advantage of thorough preparation for their 
work, who could measure the effects upon the sentiment 



SCHOOL SENTIMENT AND DILIGENT EFFORT 203 

of the schools taught by them as well as upon the individual 
pupils who attend the schools? It is safe to say that in 
many schools and colleges there would come to the pupils 
and students a new interest in education and an enlarged 
vision of life and its work. 

No excellence without labor. — Work, both purposeful 
and persistent, is a fundamental necessity in winning either 
success or happiness. When the lamented Booker T. 
Washington was requested by the Sunday School Times 
in 1907 to name the things for which he was most thankful, 
the chief source of the gratitude of his heart was summed 
up as follows : 

"First for the opportunity to work. Work is the greatest blessing 
that a Good Providence has conferred upon the human race. Any 
one who has learned to love work for its own sake cannot fail to be 
supremely happy. The man who has something to do is to be envied. 
The man who has nothing to do is to be pitied." 

Fortunate indeed are the pupils who come under the 
influence of teachers whose example impresses the lesson 
of gratitude for an opportunity to work and inspires a love 
of work for its own sake. 



XV 
INFLUENCE OF MORAL SENTIMENT 

ANOTHER prime essential in a good school is a 
strong sentiment in favor of truthfulness and 
honesty in all the work of the school. So intimately 
related are truthfulness and honesty that they can be 
considered as really one element of character. Certainly 
one cannot exist without the other and no school can be a 
good school which does not daily emphasize the importance 
and necessity of both in the education of boys and girls. 
In all the work of the classroom, in all the games of the 
playground, and in all the relations of teachers with 
pupils and of pupils with each other, there should be a 
definite understanding that truthfulness and honesty must 
be the rule which admits of no exceptions. Trained in 
such an atmosphere and guided by such a sentiment boys 
and girls will grow up to love truth for truth's sake, and to 
hate deception in all forms because of its harmful effect 
upon life and character. 

Moral sentiment essential. — That there is need of such 
training and guidance and that it is also difhcult to give 
it, will be readily recognized by all who know conditions 
as they exist to-day. In too many instances, the critics 
of the character products of the public schools lose sight 
of the fact that the training in character which they so 
insistently demand of the schools is exceedingly difficult 
if not impossible of realization, because of the lack of 

204 



INFLUENCE OF MORAL SENTIMENT 205 

support in too many homes and because of the presence of 
low standards of common truthfulness and honesty in 
relation to the affairs of everyday life. 

The father who is guilty of engaging in business trans- 
actions which are not strictly fair and honorable and who 
thus furnishes to his own son an example of dishonesty and 
deceit, adds greatly to the burden of the teacher, who is 
striving to create a school sentiment in favor of truthfulness 
and honesty. The mother who is such a slave to the con- 
ventional forms of society that she does not hesitate to 
practice deceit or to sacrifice permanent principles of right 
for temporary popularity, and who thus leads her daughter 
to conclude that genuine character is, after all, of little 
value, does her part to make a school sentiment in favor of 
truthfulness and honesty difficult of attainment. It is 
not always easy to teach the importance of truthfulness 
to a child whose parents do not hesitate to attempt to 
deceive the conductor of a passenger train as to the age of 
the child, to save a few cents in railroad fare. When 
parents teach and practice the theory that the end justifies 
the means, and that it is right and commendable to cheat a 
business corporation because its methods of dealing with the 
pubhc are presumed to be dishonest or unfair, it should not 
be surprising if the school fails sometimes to turn out a 
thoroughly honest and reliable product. 

In too many instances much of the best effort of teachers 
must be directed to the elimination of false standards of 
truthfulness and honesty taught in the home and practiced 
in society. While the results produced by such effort are 
important, they are necessarily of a negative nature and, 
therefore, not easily measured or recorded. There is no 



206 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

possibility of knowing with any degree of accuracy how 
much of untruthfuhiess and dishonesty has been ehminated 
from the hves of adults by a training in truthfulness and 
honesty in the lives of school children, made possible and 
effective by a strong school sentiment in favor of these 
virtues. Could there be a fuller realization of what the 
public schools accomplish in a negative way in character 
training, there would be a higher appreciation of their work 
and far less criticism of what they fail to do. 

The distinction between right and wrong. — Teachers 
who are successful in cultivating a strong school sentiment 
for truthfulness and honesty are always careful to dis- 
tinguish closely between innocent acts of mischief, in which 
all normal children love to have a part, and guilty deeds of 
meanness which are rare under normal conditions. The 
debates which are so often held in teachers' meetings, or 
conducted through the columns of educational journals on 
whether children should tell on one another or not, usually 
entirely ignore this important distinction. Wise teachers 
never inquire too closely into the origin of many school 
pranks which, in no great degree, if at all, involve any 
question of right or wrong conduct. Teachers who are 
always " holding court " and conducting investigations 
with the purpose of trying to ferret out all the mysteries 
in which children in common with adults like to enshroud 
their innocent fun, will have little time to do anything else. 
In many instances, the foolish determination of tactless 
teachers to find out all about all the details of everything 
which happens in the Hfe of the school results in far more 
harm to the school than that produced by the alleged 
misdeeds of the pupils under investigation. 



INFLUENCE OF MORAL SENTIMENT 207 

To demand that children shall go on the witness stand 
to testify against their classmates in matters of little mo- 
ment or consequence is to encourage tattling, which should 
always be discouraged and which should usually be con- 
demned. To encourage, or, under ordinary circumstances, 
even to permit such a practice in school is to train for 
gossip in later life. Even when the necessity arises of in- 
vestigating the acts of pupils, teachers should strive to 
avoid, in so far as possible, placing them in a dilemma where 
they must decide between telling the whole truth and 
nothing but the truth about something of really little vital 
importance morally, and thereby implicating their school- 
mates, or withholding the truth, or, perhaps, even telling 
a falsehood to shield those who have had a part in the 
matter under investigation. 

While false ideals of loyalty may at times exist in the 
minds of pupils, it must never be forgotten that the principle 
of loyalty to one's friends is fundamental in true character. 
To develop this principle of loyalty to friends, along with 
loyalty to truth in the practice of the principle, is often a 
difhcult task which calls forth the best efforts of the most 
tactful teachers. If pupils are not asked to tell what they 
know about the origin of innocent acts of mischief, which 
in no way involve the good name of the school nor violate 
any moral principle, they can usually be relied upon to tell 
the truth in giving all the information they possess con- 
cerning any act of wrongdoing which is an injury to the 
school or which is harmful to any of its members. 

The tactless teacher. — On the playground of a country 
school at the opening of the noon hour, an interesting as 
well as an interested group of boys gathered about the 



208 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

leader of the school. This leader was the oldest member 
of the group. He had won his way to leadership by the 
exercise of the same qualities of character as win success 
in any business, calling, or profession in life. He was 
bright-minded, true-hearted, loyal-souled, full of fun, and 
ready at any time to help his schoolmates. More than 
once he had helped to fight the battles of some of the smaller 
boys when they had been subjected to the impositions which 
are not uncommon in the lives of such boys. He could 
always be relied upon in the hour of need. He had never 
been known to forsake his friends. To be recognized by 
him as worthy of membership in his band was an honor 
coveted by all the smaller boys who were eager to endure 
almost any degree of punishment or pain which might be 
required in the entrance examination to the privilege of 
playing with the larger boys who had the confidence of the 
leader. To be invited by him to join his party on an ex- 
ploring expedition in the fields or on a march of conquest 
through the woods adjoining the school grounds brought 
a thrill of pride and joy to all who were fortunate enough 
to be so highly honored. 

On one of their marches, the boys had the good fortune 
to capture a small owl. Instantly there flashed upon the 
alert mind of the leader the possibilities of some innocent 
fun. Not being selfish, he was anxious to share his vision 
with the other boys. Calling them about him, he outlined 
his rapidly formed plan to hide the owl under his coat, to 
take it into the schoolroom, and at the " psychological 
moment," to turn it loose. Of course, this bit of proposed 
mischief, perfectly innocent and legitimate, forcefully 
appealed to the boys, all of whom cheerfully and willingly 



INFLUENCE OF MORAL SENTIMENT 209 

took the pledge of secrecy and solemnly promised not to 
tell how the owl got into the schoolhouse, should the teacher 
be foolish enough to ask any questions. With joyful 
anticipation of what they all hoped the near future had in 
store for them, the boys hurriedly returned to the school 
grounds and anxiously awaited the call to books with an 
intense longing which was very unusual for them. When 
the call finally came, all who were in the secret entered the 
schoolhouse with such remarkable promptness and in such 
exceptional order as would have aroused the suspicions of a 
really tactful teacher and would have caused him to be on 
the alert for other signals of warning. One of these signals 
of warning was the undue haste with which all the boys, 
who knew the plan, began to study their lessons. Each 
one seemed suddenly to be possessed with such an insatiable 
desire to prepare his lessons as would admit of no delay 
and as demanded instant satisfaction. With eyes turned 
toward their books but with many expectant side glances 
about the room and with ears open to catch the slightest 
sound, the little band of heroic toilers studied on, each 
moment fondly hoping for developments full of intense 
interest to them. After a few minutes of " watchful 
waiting " their highest hopes were realized. The owl, freed 
from its temporary prison under the coat of the leader, 
who all the time seemed deeply absorbed in the study of 
his lesson, fluttered for a few minutes blindly about the 
room and then quietly settled on the casement of a window 
near the seat of one of the smaller boys — only that and 
nothing more. 

And there would have been nothing more, had the teacher 
kept quiet. A perfectly harmless and an absolutely quiet 

OUR PUB. S. — 14 



2IO SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

owl would have remained in perfect silence where it sat, 
and a group of fun-loving boys would have been completely 
subdued, had the teacher shown a modicum of the wisdom 
which owls are reputed to possess. But the teacher, 
determined to find out how the owl got into the school- 
room, at once started on an investigation which he vainly 
imagined would put him in possession of that really useless 
information. With a high degree of solemnity which might 
well characterize a judge presiding at a trial in which a 
human life is at stake, the teacher pointed out the grievous 
wrong which had been committed in disturbing the peace 
of the school by bringing an owl into the schoolroom. He 
stated his purpose to discover who had committed this 
great wrong. He then proceeded with the investigation by 
calling on one of the smallest boys in the guilty group to 
tell whether he knew how the owl got into the room. This 
boy was thereby at once placed in a most embarrassing 
position in which a serious dilemma confronted him. On 
the one hand he felt it his duty to remain loyal to the leader 
of the school, whom he loved, and to whom he had given 
his solemn promise not to divulge the name of the per- 
petrator of the innocent mischief ; on the other hand was 
the demand of the teacher that he break his promise to 
his schoolmate and thus prove disloyal, as it seemed to 
him, to his best friend. In the struggle which came to 
him in making the decision as to what response he should 
give to the teacher's demand, the boy was influenced by 
an innate sense of the unfairness of the teacher who had 
placed him in such a trying position. He replied that he 
did not know. The teacher then turned to another boy 
and asked him the same question. It will be evident to 



INFLUENCE OF MORAL SENTIMENT 211 

every one that this second boy had an additional reason 
for not telling the teacher what he had been asked to tell. 
Not only was he influenced by his idea of loyalty to his 
leader and by the remembrance of his promise not to tell, 
but also by the feeHng that to expose the first boy, who 
had already said he did not know, would be an act of un- 
pardonable meanness on his part. The second boy also 
replied that he did not know. On through the ranks the 
teacher's question passed, each boy being asked to tell 
and each boy replying that he did not know. Finally the 
teacher reached the leader and called upon him to testify. 
But his mind was so deeply centered upon the study of his 
lesson and his attention so absorbed in this deep study that 
he did not hear the call. The teacher again called him by 
nam.e and received in reply a surprised "What sir!" 
The teacher then repeated the question — " Do you know 
how that owl got into the schoolroom? " Imagine, if 
possible, the consternation of that group of boys who, 
with some slight pangs of conscience, had remained true 
to the promise made to their leader not to tell, when they 
heard him reply to the question which they had declined 
to answer, in a clear and emphatic " Yes sir." 

It seemed to them that all was lost. Visions of the 
infliction of punishment to which teachers of the type of 
the one who was in charge of this school so often resort, 
came rapidly to their minds. Relief soon followed and in 
a manner fully as unexpected as the shock of the surprise 
due to the answer of their leader that he knew how the 
owl got into the room. With a high degree of evident 
satisfaction that he had at last found the boy who would tell 
him all about the mystery of the owl's presence, the teacher 



212 SCHOOL SENTIMENT • 

requested the leader to explain that mystery. The reply 
was prompt and definite and most satisfactory — to the 
boys. It was simply this — ''I am not sure but I think it 
came down the flue." 

It is possible that the boys may have done wrong in 
refusing to answer truthfully the question of the teacher. 
But there can be no doubt that the chief sinner was the 
teacher, himself. If the recording angel on that day 
entered anything upon his books against any one, it is safe 
to presume that the charge of wrongdoing was not against 
the boys who, at least, had what seemed to them a justi- 
fiable reason for their action, but against the tactless teacher 
who had not the shghtest excuse for asking the fooHsh 
question which was the cause of all the trouble. 

Another and better way. — In contrast with the policy 
of this tactless teacher, who was at least indirectly respon- 
sible for any deception practiced by his pupils, attention is 
called to another experience of a principal of schools in 
dealing with another group of fun-lovmg boys. This 
principal always spent the play period out among the chil- 
dren on the playground. He was there not as a policeman 
in search of some offender whom he could prosecute and 
punish, but as a friend who loved the children and heartily 
sympathized with them in all their games and in their 
fun. 

On one occasion his attention was called to a group of 
boys who had retired to a little ravine in a distant corner 
of the schoolground and who, with heads close together, 
were deeply intent upon some scheme which demanded and 
received their undivided attention. As the principal came 
near the group, he could not help hearing an earnest con- 



INFLUENCE OF MORAL SENTIMENT 213 

versation which revealed not only the source of their 
interest but also their future plans. One of the boys was 
the happy owner of the works of an old clock minus the 
spring which controlled its movements. When the clock 
was wound up, the energy which, when under control, was 
slowly used through a period of several hours, in the 
absence of the controlling spring, was exhausted in a few 
seconds. The resulting noise was such as to bring joy to 
the hearts of any mischief-making and fun-loving group of 
boys. One of the boys who was enjoying the thrill of this 
novel experience soon realized the possibilities for fun 
which the apparatus contained and proposed to another 
boy, " Jim " by name, who sat in a part of the schoolroom 
distant from the teacher's desk and, therefore, well located 
for action, that he take the old clock with him into the 
schoolroom and when the teacher's back was turned to 
the school, wind it up, put it in his desk, and " let 'er go." 
This valuable suggestion met with the instant and hearty 
approval of all the boys, who also united in a promise not 
to tell should any inquiries follow. 

A tactless principal would have felt it necessary to break 
up such a band of conspirators at once by sending them all 
into the schoolroom and depriving them of their play until 
such time as they might come into a full realization of the 
enormity of the crime of planning mischief and standing 
together in maintaining secrecy regarding the execution 
of their plans. The boys would have been impressively 
informed that they could never hope to make such plans 
without being discovered. Fortunately for the boys and 
also their principal he was not tactless. He had not for- 
gotten how thoroughly he enjoyed fun when he was their 



214 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

age. Because he still remembered his own boyhood days, 
he was able to appreciate the motives which inspired the 
plan to have some fun. He quietly turned away from 
the scene with joy in his heart that he had boys in school 
whose brains were active enough to think of something 
original and with delightful anticipations in his soul of the 
pleasure which would be his in the near future. 

When the school bell rang, all the children from all parts 
of the large playground instantly responded to its call. 
They formed in straight and quiet ranks at their proper 
places, marched to their schoolrooms and seats in an 
orderly manner, and entered at once upon the preparation 
of their lessons. A good judge of boy nature, even without 
any knowledge of their plans, would have readily noted 
in the pious looks and faultless behavior of the youthful 
conspirators, as they entered the building and took their 
seats, a suggestion to keep an eye out in their quarter. To 
the principal who knew the plans and what was certain to 
occur at the earliest opportunity, the whole situation was 
intensely amusing. He was fully as anxious to play his 
part as the boys were to play theirs. He purposely turned 
his back to the school and commenced to write a number of 
arithmetical problems on the blackboard. At once the 
boys who were in the secret signaled to " Jim " that the 
time had come " to let 'er go." The old clock was wound 
up, and carefully placed in his desk which made an excel- 
lent sounding board. When it '^ went off," all the pupils 
in the room except the *' conspirators " manifested their 
intense surprise. Had the principal been ignorant of the 
source of the noise, a hasty glance over the schoolroom 
would have revealed the location of the disturbance and 



INFLUENCE OF MORAL SENTIMENT 215 

the boys who were responsible for it. The only un- 
disturbed boys in the room were, of course, those who knew 
all about the scheme. They did not even glance up from 
their books. Intense interest in their lessons riveted their 
attention to their studies. 

The principal, however, did not need to turn his face to the 
school. He simply wrote right on and in the most pleasant 
tone of voice, said: " Jim, please bring the old clock in 
your desk and place it on my desk." Slowly, '' Jim " 
responded to the call to come to the front. As he reached 
the principal's desk with his rare treasure from which so 
much had been expected, he was met by the principal with 
a cordial smile and a hearty " thank you." Not a word 
was said to the boys to throw any light upon the great 
mystery of how the principal knew where the clock was 
located ; no criticism of any kind came from him. He 
apparently dismissed the whole matter from his mind. 
Had he been the tactless, talking, investigating type, he 
would have called the attention of the entire school to 
what he had discovered at the play period and would 
have endeavored to impress upon all the pupils how 
impossible it was for them to hope to escape detection, 
should they attempt to play any pranks of any kind. 
Such an explanation would have been most pleasing 
to " Jim " and his associates, who left the schoolroom 
that day sadder but not wiser. In their confidential con- 
ference which soon followed, they agreed that it was not 
worth while to attempt to plan mischief in that school. 
In their ranks, '' remember the old clock " became a slogan, 
the mere mention of which was sufficient to control, in a 
large measure, their actions when mischief came up for 



2l6 SCHOOL SENTIMENT 

consideration. The tactful principal had won an important 
victory by keeping his eyes open and his mouth closed. 

A difficult problem. — To create and to maintain in the 
school such a sentiment for truthfulness and honesty as 
will lead boys and girls, in practicing these virtues, to live 
up to higher ideals than are found in many homes, is indeed 
a difficult problem. To solve such a problem successfully 
means incalculable benefits in character growth to boys 
and girls. It demands the highest type of truthfulness and 
honesty coupled with the most consummate tact and skill 
on the part of teachers. 



COOPERATION 



217 



XVI 
TEACHERS AND PUPILS 

AT a recent meeting of the representatives of the big 
business interests of the United States, one of the 
leading captains of industry is reported to have 
said that the badge of sanity in the business world of to-day 
is ability to cooperate. 

On a sign hanging in front of a small restaurant, located 
near the passenger station of a western city, is the following 
striking announcement : 

" Try our 25-cent meals. If you don't we'll both starve.'' 

Both the statement credited to the big business man and 
the advertisement of the small restaurant-keeper recognize 
the importance and necessity of cooperation in the success- 
ful management of business affairs. 

Mutual helpfulness. — Even in the material and in the 
economic world, the lesson that no man liveth unto himself 
is being slowly but surely learned. Selfishness never pays, 
while the spirit of helpfulness to others, which is the essence 
of true cooperation, always brings in large returns on the 
investment made. 

In no department of the world's work is there greater 
need of cooperation than in the department of public 
education. Here the child, the parent, the teacher, the 
home, the community, the school board, and all the other 
representative interests and agencies of the state are 

219 



2 20 COOPERATION 

involved. If the work of the pubHc school be performed 
in a spirit of true cooperation, the results must be beneficial 
to all. If this spirit of cooperation is lacking, the school, 
the home, and the state all suffer as a result. 

To some teachers the thought of cooperation suggests 
little more than the importance of a readiness and willing- 
ness on the part of parents to help them in their work in the 
daily tasks of the schoolroom. While such help is both 
desirable and necessary, it cannot be secured simply for the 
asking. It results only from superior work done by the 
teacher with the children in the schoolroom. The one 
sure way to secure cooperation from the forces outside of 
the school is to give such service in the school as will enlist 
the attention, interest, and commendation of fathers and 
mothers in the home, and of citizens in the community. A 
well-taught school always finds a good advertising medium 
in its pupils. 

A young teacher was worrying over some of the diffi- 
culties, partly real and partly imaginary, which confronted 
him in his work in a country school. At the close of the 
week he walked several miles to his home to consult his 
former teacher, to whom he was indebted for all that he 
possessed of education and training as well as for the 
inspiration which had led him to attempt to teach. To 
this sympathetic friend he poured out his heart in the 
relation of his troubles and then asked him for advice as to 
what to do under the circumstances which seemed so dis- 
couraging. The advice which was given has been a source 
of real help and encouragement in all the years which have 
followed. It is recorded here in the hope that it may help 
others : 



TEACHERS AND PUPILS 221 

"My boy, go back to your school determined to give to the children 
who attend it all of the best that you have. Hold back nothing in 
your power to give, and always remember this : if you will take care of 
your school, your school will take care of you." 

That schools do take care of teachers who take care of 
their schools has found verification in the experience of 
thousands of teachers who have been successful in spite 
of difficulties which have seemed insurmountable. By 
giving to the children all of the best that they had, the 
opposition of outside faultfinders has been overcome, in- 
difference has been turned into active interest in the welfare 
of the schools, and success has been won where defeat 
appeared certain. 

What is meant by cooperation. — Since cooperation 
with the pupils is not only essential to the success of the 
school but is also the only means of enlisting the cooperation 
of forces outside of the school, it is very important to deter- 
mine as fully as possible what is meant by such cooperation 
and by what means it is most readily secured and main- 
tained. 

It will be evident to all who have given this important 
question any thoughtful consideration that it is impossible 
to cooperate with anyone in anything without an abiding 
interest in the welfare and work of the one with whom the 
cooperation is desired. No spasmodic or passing interest 
will answer. Just as the business man soon learns that 
success necessitates the dedication of his life to the trans- 
action of the business in which he is engaged and that 
nothing must be permitted to interfere with constant 
devotion to the work which confronts him, so the teacher 
who secures the cooperation of the pupils and thereby 



222 COOPERATION 

insures the success of the school must never allow his interest 
in the welfare of the children to lag nor his devotion to the 
school to decrease. 

On a hot August day, a member of a township board of 
education met one of the teachers of the township high 
school, walking quite a distance from the interurban car 
line which had brought her from her home in the adjoining 
city. In answer to the suggestion that it must be an un- 
usually urgent errand which brought her to the country 
on such a day, the surprising reply was made that she was 
making her annual trip over the township to call at the 
homes where children who had passed the county examina- 
tion then required for entrance to the high school lived. 
When it was found that it had been decided in the homes 
to send the children to the high school, she expressed her 
keen appreciation of the opportunity w^hich would soon 
be hers of knowing and teaching them. If parents were 
undecided about sending the children to the high school, 
an effort was then made to show them the value of a high 
school education and to persuade them to give their children 
an opportunity to take advantage of it. 

When the boys and girls from these homes entered the 
high school, they knew that in this teacher they had a 
friend. Many of them would never have gone to high 
school at all, had it not been for her unselfish service in 
visiting their homes. All of them were eager to cooperate 
with the teacher whose interest in their welfare made 
them anxious to help in every possible way to make the 
school a success. 

Instances of cooperation secured by teachers in all 
grades and in all types of schools, as the result of their 



TEACHERS AND PUPILS 223 

abiding interest in the welfare and work of their pupils, 
might be multipHed indefinitely. On the other hand, it is 
unfortunately true that many instances might also be 
recorded of failure to attend school at all, or to remain in 
school after starting, or to do successful work while in 
school, in the grades, or in high school, or in college, because 
of a lack of such abiding interest on the part of teachers. 

Sympathy. — It is also impossible to cooperate with any 
one in anything without a genuine sympathy for him in 
the experiences through which he may be passing and with 
him in the work which he is attempting to do. Such 
sympathy is more than pity, commiseration, or con- 
dolence. It is a '' feeling corresponding to that which 
another feels." It means that attitude of mind and heart 
which enables teachers to enter intelligently into the hfe of 
pupils, to understand how matters look to them, and to 
comprehend the motives which lead them to act or to fail 
to act. Genuinely sympathetic teachers know what it 
means to rejoice with them that do rejoice and to weep 
with them that weep. Whether they teach little children 
in the elementary school, larger boys and girls in the high 
school, or more mature students in the college or university, 
they keep constantly in mind the experiences of their own 
childhood and youth. And, as a result, they never lose 
the feeling corresponding to that which their pupils or 
students feel. 

There is nothing sentimental about genuine sympathy. 
It is never fooHshly indulgent. It does not pretend to 
rejoice when there is no occasion for ecstasy. It does not 
weep when there is no cause for tears. It never leads 
teachers to do for pupils or students what they should do 



224 COOPERATION 

and must do for themselves in order to maintain their own 
self-respect and to develop their own powers. Genuine 
sympathy always includes a proper proportion of sense. 
It is justice tempered with mercy in the proper amount 
and apphed in the proper quantity at the proper time. 

With such sympathy, teachers can readily find their 
way to the minds and hearts of those whom they teach, 
and thus secure that cooperation which is so essential to 
success. Without such sympathy, the relation of teachers 
and taught must always be lacking in that frankness and 
cordiality upon which the happiness and success of the 
school so largely depend. The mutual understanding of 
teachers and pupils, the ready obedience of pupils to the 
requests of teachers, and the attention, interest, and indus- 
try of pupils in all their work, found in well- taught schools, 
are all characteristic of the spirit of cooperation resulting 
from the leadership and direction of teachers of genuine 
sympathy. On the other hand much of the misunder- 
standing, disobedience, indifference, inattention, and idle- 
ness, found in poorly taught schools, can be traced to a 
lack of cooperation resulting from a lack of leadership and 
direction due to a lack of genuine sympathy on the part of 
the teachers in charge of such schools. 

Appreciation. — A third essential factor in cooperation, 
which is the natural outgrowth of the two already dis- 
cussed, is sincere appreciation. Normal individuals of all 
ages and conditions love to have their successes and their 
efforts to succeed recognized and appreciated. Children 
in the elementary schools and young people in high schools 
and colleges deserve, need, and should have the sincere 
appreciation of their teachers in all that they succeed in 



TEACHERS AND PUPILS 225 

doing well and in all that they earnestly strive to do 
well. 

It is well for teachers to keep constantly in mind what 
they owe to their pupils, without whose wiUingness and 
readiness to cooperate, it would be impossible for them 
either to discipline or to teach their schools. To realize 
the large part which the pupils of the school have in its 
discipline it is only necessary to observe what takes place 
on the playground of any school any day of the school year. 

An illustration of the true spirit of cooperation. — The 
recess period has come and hundreds of boys and girls go 
out on the playground to engage in games of different kinds. 
Everywhere there is seen intense activity mingled with keen 
interest and real joy. Over in one corner of the large play- 
ground the older boys are playing a game of baseball with 
the intense enthusiasm so characteristic of their age. 
Just as the playtime draws to a close, on all hands there are 
indications of unusual interest. The fielders go farther 
out in the field ; the basemen become more alert ; the 
shortstop gets ready to spring instantly in any and every 
direction. A glance at the home-plate reveals the cause 
of all the commotion. The champion batter is at the bat. 
The manner in which he stands and sways his bat tells 
plainly that he is determined to hit the ball, perhaps for a 
home-run, and to help to win a victory for his side. In the 
pitcher's box is another boy, whose actions clearly prove 
that he is determined, if possible, to throw a ball which 
not even the champion batter can hit. For some time he 
goes through all the contortions incident to winding himself 
up. Just as he is about to throw the ball, which he hopes 
will help to win victory for his side, the school bell taps. 

OUR PUB. S. I ^ 



226 COOPERATION 

The ball which he has been so long getting ready to throw, 
quietly drops into his pocket. At the call of the bell, which 
represents the authority of the school, he and the other 
hundreds of boys and girls on the playground instantly 
leave the games which they love. Within two minutes 
they have quietly marched to their different rooms, are 
seated at their desks, and are busy with the preparation of 
their lessons. 

No finer manifestation of the true spirit of cooperation 
can be found anywhere than in such a scene. Uninterested, 
unsympathetic, and unappreciative, indeed, must be any 
teacher who can witness such a prompt response to the 
call of the school without renewed interest in the welfare 
of his pupils, without genuine sympathy for them in all 
that they do, or without sincere appreciation of ail their 
efforts to make possible the discipline of the school. 

The teacher's dependence upon his pupils. — Such a 
manifestation of the spirit of cooperation on the part of 
pupils will naturally lead any considerate teacher to a full 
realization at all times of what he owes to his pupils, and to 
wonder many times what would happen if, at any time, for 
any reason, they should decline to leave their games and 
return to their studies, when the call comes. How helpless 
the teacher would be in such an emergency ! There are 
not enough policemen in any district to drive the children 
from the playground into the schoolroom, if they should 
conclude " to cooperate " in defying the authority of the 
school. Could some of the narrow- visioned faultfinders of 
the work of the public schools realize, even to a small 
degree, what this spirit of cooperation, which exists in all 
good schools and which is encouraged by all good teachers, 



TEACHERS AND PUPILS 227 

means in the life and in the training for citizenship of the 
boys and girls, their captious criticism of comparatively 
insignificant details would be turned into generous com- 
mendation of the results of large significance secured by 
the schools. 

In the preparation of their daily lessons, as well as in 
their willingness to respond to the discipline of the school, 
pupils make possible successful work in the classroom. 
Sometimes teachers fail to recognize this fact. Some 
teachers spend so much time in scolding the occasional 
pupil who has a poorly prepared lesson, or in complaining 
about an occasional recitation which has not measured up 
to the ideal standard set for it, that no time is left to indicate 
in any manner the genuine appreciation which ought to be 
felt and expressed for lessons well prepared and recitations 
well made. Teachers who find that they are constantly 
irritated by what a small minority in their classes fail to do 
in the preparation or recitation of their lessons, and who 
are never pleased with what the large majority succeed 
in doing day by day in both their preparation and recitation, 
should either resign or reform. The chief element in the 
reform essential to the success of such teachers is the 
cultivation of the ability both to see what is worthy of 
sincere appreciation in the work of their pupils and to 
express this appreciation in such a manner as to call forth 
the best efforts of those whom they teach. 

All teachers of experience can no doubt recall instances 
of good results of appreciation shown by them for the 
efforts of their pupils. They know something of the joy 
which accompanies the expression of such appreciation and 
of the pleasant recollections of it which permanently remain. 



228 COOPERATION 

Fortunate, indeed, are teachers who have no occasion to recall 
experiences of an opposite nature, which have resulted in 
the discouragement and, perhaps, the permanent failure 
of their pupils. That teachers should unhesitatingly per- 
form the unpleasant duty of chiding pupils for a failure 
to do their work well and then neglect an opportunity of 
expressing their approbation of a decided improvement in 
their work, seems so strange and so unreasonable as to be 
unbelievable. Yet, that such actions are not uncommon 
will find verification in the experience of most teachers. 

Approbation better than faultfinding. — In a high school, 
several years ago, was a boy who possessed the not un- 
usual combination of rare ability to learn together with a 
large amount of the inertia of rest. Because of his un- 
questioned ability to do his work exceptionally well and 
his apparent lack of any desire or ambition to do it at 
all, this boy was naturally the subject of much discussion 
by the teachers and principal of the high school. Failing 
in their efforts to make any impression upon him, the 
teachers referred the boy to the superintendent of the 
schools, who was thoroughly informed regarding his lack 
of application and who was exceedingly anxious to help 
the teachers in their attempt to arouse him to a realization 
of his opportunities and to a determination to go to work 
to improve them. 

An appeal was made to the boy to go to work, to improve 
his time and his opportunities and, as a result, to become 
the leader of his class, which he could easily do by proper 
application and study. Coupled with this appeal to his 
self-respect was the suggestion that if he did not, of his 
own accord, reform his habits of idleness and show decided 



TEACHERS AND PUPILS 229 

improvement in his work, the assistance of his uncle and 
guardian, in whose home he had hved since the death of 
his father, would be sought. Neither the appeal nor the 
suggestion seemed to have any effect, and in due time the 
superintendent kept his promise by performing the un- 
pleasant duty of calling upon the uncle, one of the leading 
professional men of the community, and informing him of 
the failure of his nephew to do his school work in a satis- 
factory manner. With characteristic promptness and 
determination, the uncle replied that he would attend to 
the matter immediately and would see to it that his nephew 
did his work as it should be done. Good results soon 
followed. The boy applied himself to his studies and soon 
became as conspicuous for good recitations as he had 
previously been for poor ones. Teachers, principal, and 
superintendent were all much pleased with the change in 
the boy's attitude toward his work, and were encouraged 
to know that the visit to the home had brought such desir- 
able results. 

The astonishing fact connected with this incident is not 
that the boy improved in his work but that it never occurred 
to the superintendent that an excellent opportunity to 
perform a most pleasant duty awaited him. In the course 
of a few months, however, the existence of such an oppor- 
tunity was called to his attention in a manner never to be 
forgotten. 

On a Saturday afternoon, as the superintendent was 
walking up the street, the boy in question, who had been 
doing such satisfactory work for several months, met him 
and asked for a conference which was most cheerfully 
granted. The conference opened with a statement from 



230 COOPERATION 

the boy to the effect that the superintendent probably 
remembered that several months before in his office he 
had had a meeting with him at which the boy's poor stand- 
ing in school had been discussed, and that he had been told 
that unless there was an immediate improvement in his 
work, the assistance of his uncle would be sought. The 
superintendent was pleased that the boy remembered the 
incident and, with no little satisfaction, replied that he, 
too, distinctly recalled the conversation and that he had 
visited the uncle and had performed the unpleasant duty, 
as he had promised. The boy then asked the superin- 
tendent whether he knew anything about the character of 
his work since and, if so, whether any improvement had 
been made or not. To this question the superintendent 
was glad to be able to reply that he was fully informed 
about the boy's work and that all his teachers had reported 
a decided improvement in all his studies. At this point, the 
boy showed marked signs of deep feeling and with his voice 
trembling with emotion said : 

" If you are sure that I am doing better work, would you 
mind going and telling my uncle? " 

As the superintendent hurried away from that conference 
to call again on the uncle to perform the pleasant duty of 
telling him that his nephew, concerning whom such serious 
complaint had been made a few months before, because of 
his failure to do his school work in a satisfactory manner, 
was now meeting the highest expectations of his teachers 
by doing his work well, he sorrowfully wondered why he 
had to be reminded by the boy of the fine opportunity which 
had come to him to perform a pleasant duty by doing a 
gracious act. And he firmly determined that in the future 



TEACHERS AND PUPILS 23 1 

he would constantly try to be on the alert to recognize 
and improve all such opportunities. When looking for 
such opportunities, it is astonishing how many of them 
can be found, how greatly burdens are hghtened, and how 
much more efficient life becomes by an expression of sincere 
appreciation of the earnest efforts and honest work of others. 

Lack of feeling prevents appreciation. — The failure of 
so many people, including too many teachers, to express 
appreciation of earnest effort and honest work is due to 
different causes. With some, no appreciation is ever 
expressed because none is ever felt. And none is ever felt 
because of a lack of any capacity to feel. Such people 
pride themselves in never being moved to feel deeply about 
anything or for any one. They pretend to believe that all 
feeling, especially the expression of it, is a sure sign of in- 
tellectual weakness, and that the absence of all expression 
of appreciation marks them as superior individuals. The 
presence of such people anywhere is a menace to the happi- 
ness and welfare of humanity. To permit them to teach 
in either elementary schools, high schools, or colleges is a 
crime against childhood and youth, 

A much larger class of persons, including not a few 
teachers, seldom, if ever, indulge in expressions of appre- 
ciation of any one or for anything, largely because of in- 
difference or thoughtlessness, both of which are closely 
related to selfishness. They have, or at one time did have 
both the capacity to feel appreciation and the desire to 
express it. But because of a failure to cultivate the 
capacity, they have become indifferent to the encourage- 
ment which they can give to others and to the happiness 
which will come to themselves by letting their apprecia- 



232 - COOPERATION 

tion be known. There is no more certain way to dwarf 
the soul and to destroy all that is best in life than to with- 
hold the expressions of sincere appreciation which the 
heart feels and is prompted to give. On the other hand to 
cultivate the habit of giving praise to whom it is due, when 
it is due, is to cause the soul to grow and the life to expand 
in power to bless both those who receive and those who give. 
One secret of success. — Teachers of real power are never 
indifferent to their opportunities to speak the word of 
appreciation and encouragement, which means so much to 
the young lives under their direction. They are never 
thoughtless in taking advantage of such opportunities. 
They keep selfishness out of their own hearts and lives 
and win success for themselves and the schools which they 
teach by acting upon the advice given to the young teacher 
as recorded in the opening pages of this chapter, and by 
unselfishly giving to the children all of the best that they 
have in an abiding interest in their welfare and work, in a 
genuine sympathy for them in all that they do, and in a 
sincere appreciation of all their efforts to follow the leader- 
ship of their teachers and to meet the requirements of the 
school. 



XVII 
MUTUAL AID AND COMMON AIMS 

WHILE cooperation should begin with the children 
in the school, it should not end there. In all 
their relations with one another, teachers 
should at all times be actuated by a desire to be mutually 
helpful. They should never permit themselves to become 
envious of the success of others nor to be influenced by 
the petty jealousies, which too often manifest themselves 
in their ranks, and which result in so much injury both 
to themselves and to the schools which they teach. Their 
relations should be characterized by such a spirit of co- 
operation as will encourage frankness of speech to each other 
in the discussion of the work in which they are engaged 
and discourage all captious criticism of what is being done. 
Teachers should not criticize each other. — The absence 
of this spirit of cooperation sometimes leads teachers to 
talk about one another in an unfriendly, unprofessional manner 
rather than to each other, with a desire to be mutually 
helpful. It is not uncommon to hear college professors 
criticize, in a most caustic manner, the work of high school 
teachers, and teachers in the high school complain about 
the poorly prepared pupils promoted from the grammar 
school, and so on down the line. In the majority of 
instances such criticisms and complaints are unjust and, 
if persisted in, are usually a certain indication of the inferior 
teaching abihty of those who indulge in them, and who 

233 



234 COOPERATION 

hope, thereby, to cover up their own deficiencies and short- 
comings. Even where there is any justification for such 
criticisms and complaints, it usually does no good to make 
them. With teachers who know how to instruct and who 
are characterized by the true spirit of cooperation, poorty 
prepared pupils can be helped to overcome their deficiencies 
in much less time and with much less effort than are often 
worse than wasted in finding fault with the work of their 
previous teachers. 

Usually teachers who have the right attitude toward 
their work, who are actuated by the spirit of cooperation, 
and who do not, therefore, try to excuse their own defi- 
ciencies and failures by laying the blame on others, are 
never inclined to complain about the work of teachers from 
whose schools their pupils have been promoted. If, how- 
ever, the tendency to indulge in such complaints should 
manifest itself, all that is ordinarily needed to correct it is 
to call their attention to the readiness with which they 
assented, at the close of the preceding term or year, to the 
promotion of some of their own pupils, who were not any 
better prepared to do the work of the next grade or class 
than the inadequately prepared pupils who have been 
promoted to their grade or class, and of whom they have 
shown a tendency to complain. 

Cooperation and promotions. — It is in the promotion 
of pupils, as well as in their treatment after they have been 
promoted, that the presence of the spirit of cooperation 
brings such beneficial results, and its absence works such 
serious harm to both pupils and teachers. In order that 
justice be done to children who are classified as dull or slow, 
it is exceedingly important that all the teachers who come 



MUTUAL AID AND COMMON AIMS 235 

in contact with them shall be united in a common bond of 
interest in them and sympathy for them. 

A case in point. — Near the close of the school year, a 
superintendent of schools visited the different buildings to 
confer with the principals and teachers regarding the 
promotion of pupils. There was no doubt as to what 
should be done with the majority of them, since their 
work had been reasonably well done and they were, there- 
fore, reasonably well prepared to be promoted to the next 
grade. A few pupils, however, presented a problem for 
serious consideration. Their work had not measured up 
to the reasonable standard set for promotion and there was 
serious doubt as to whether they should be promoted or 
not. In a seventh grade two pupils of this type were the 
subject of discussion. They were older than the other 
children in their class. While they had tried hard to keep 
up with the work of the class, they had, in a measure at 
least, failed to do so. What should be done with them? 
To mere theorists in education, who know nothing of the 
responsibility which accompanies the carrying out of 
theories, such a question seems easy to answer. But 
hundreds of capable and conscientious teachers can testify 
to the perplexity which has come to them when they have 
tried to decide what should be done under such conditions. 
After a full discussion of the different phases of the question, 
the superintendent asked the teacher of the two pupils 
under consideration what she thought should be done with 
them. She had had them under her direction for a year. 
She knew not only the character of their work, but what 
was of far greater importance in making a decision, she also 
knew the character of their effort to do the work. Being 



236 COOPERATION 

an intelligent teacher she was also well informed as to the 
requirements of the eighth grade, which the pupils would 
be expected to meet should they be promoted. With all 
this information to guide her in coming to a conclusion, 
she unhesitatingly replied that, considering the age of the 
pupils and the other factors entering into the problem, she 
was certain that they would derive more benefit from going 
on to the eighth grade than from being kept back in the 
seventh grade for another year, and for this reason alone, 
they should be promoted. The superintendent imme- 
diately directed that the pupils should be promoted as the 
teacher had recommended, and was greatly surprised to 
have her state that she could not consent to it. On being 
asked why she could not consent to carrying out her own 
recommendation, the teacher reluctantly replied that she 
could not endure the caustic criticism of the eighth-grade 
teacher to whom the pupils would go, if they were pro- 
moted, and who would constantly complain, both in school 
and out, of their lack of preparation and of the inferior 
work of the teacher who had consented to their promotion. 
While it may be possible that the preceding incident 
illustrates in an extreme manner the harmful results of 
the lack of the spirit of cooperation of one teacher, it is 
feared that many similar incidents, differing only in degree, 
can be found in the record of the experience of school 
administration. As long as the slightest trace of such a 
spirit as was manifested by this eighth-grade teacher 
remains with any teacher in any grade, the complete 
cooperation which is essential to the success of a system 
of schools is impossible. While teachers should never 
be excused for poor work due to a lack of effort on their 



MUTUAL AID AND COMMON AIMS 237 

part, and should he held to strict accountability for the 
reasonable preparation of their pupils for the work of the 
next grade or class, when reasonable requirements have 
been met and promotions have been made in the belief 
that the best interests of the pupils promoted have been 
conserved, then the true spirit of cooperation demands that 
all carping criticism shall cease. 

Undesirable if not worthless. — All teachers, in either 
elementary schools or high schools, who are not willing 
to be controlled by such a spirit of cooperation and who 
thereby prove that they are incompetent to work in har- 
mony with other teachers, should be eliminated as dis- 
turbing factors in the administration of the schools with 
which they are connected. 

Waste of time and energy. — In recent years much has 
been said on the subject of waste in education. Attention 
has been repeatedly called to the large amount of material 
found in some of the textbooks, especially in arithmetic 
and geography, which has httle if any value of any kind 
for anyone. In many instances ehminations have been 
made with benefit to pupils, who are thereby given more 
time to master the essentials of the studies pursued, and 
also to teachers, who are thereby relieved from giving 
attention to a mass of unimportant details, and are enabled 
to concentrate their attention upon the presentation of 
the things of fundamental importance. Attention has re- 
peatedly been called to the great importance of lesson plans 
carefully prepared by teachers for use in the classroom, 
with the definite purpose of utilizing all the time of each 
recitation in the most profitable manner. While such 
methods of eliminating waste and economizing time are to 



238 COOPERATION 

be commended, it is possible that teachers may become 
so engrossed in formulating plans to carry these methods 
into execution, in their own grades or classes, as to lose 
sight of the larger waste which so often results from a lack 
of cooperation with the other teachers with whom they 
are associated. 

In some of the large universities, with their numerous 
colleges and over-organized departments, and with the 
teaching of the different professors, assistant professors, 
instructors, fellows, and student helpers so minutely 
specialized that the same things are not infrequently pre- 
sented under different names, there often exists a large 
and inexcusable waste of energy, time, and money due to 
a duplication of work. In the elementary schools, however, 
the opposite condition prevails. In these schools the 
teachers are not specialists. Their work is to present the 
elements of knowledge to beginners, and, by means of line 
upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there 
a little, to teach the fundamentals upon which all future 
education must depend. In the elementary schools, 
therefore, the waste is not, as a rule, due to the duplication 
of work found in the universities, but to a lack of coopera- 
tion of the teachers in the different grades or classes in 
emphasizing and re-emphasizing with sufficient drills and 
re-drills the fundamental things which can be learned by 
the vast majority of children in no other way. 

It is the business of second-grade teachers, not only to 
advance the children a little farther in their education, 
but also to see to it that the tools of learning placed in their 
hands by the first-grade teachers are so intelligently and 
persistently used as to insure skill in their use. Third- 



MUTUAL AID AND COMMON AIMS 239 

grade teachers must never conclude that, when the Httle 
section of the course of study specially assigned to them 
has been taught, their whole duty has been performed. 
The work of previous teachers must be carefully reviewed 
in order that the pupils may be given, by means of daily 
practice, still greater accuracy in their knowledge of essen- 
tials and still greater proficiency in the use of such knowl- 
edge. Teachers of all grades or classes should recognize 
not only the importance of teaching well the new subject 
matter outlined for their pupils, but also the necessity of 
perfecting in so far as possible the knowledge and under- 
standing of the subjects previously studied by their pupils. 
In some schools the results of the failure of teachers to 
cooperate in this manner are apparent in the pupils' lack of 
thoroughness and accuracy in the subjects studied. It 
is not uncommon to find that the knowledge of phonetics, 
a most important and usually a well- taught subject in the 
primary grades, is permitted to lapse, because of a failure 
to make any practical use of it, with the result that all 
that has been once learned is practically entirely forgotten 
and later on has to be taught all over again. 

Thoroughness in arithmetic. — The inaccuracies in 
arithmetic, which are too common and too numerous, and 
which result in a large waste of time, are in many instances 
the direct result of a lack of persistent practice in the use 
of the four fundamental operations, due to a false pre- 
sumption of teachers that, since their pupils have already 
been taught to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, that 
work has been completed and there is, therefore, no need 
of giving it any further attention. The philosophy of such 
teachers seems to be the same as that of the small boy who. 



240 COOPERATION 

not being in love with the requirements of his music teacher 
that he must devote a great deal of time to practicing 
each day, asked his mother whether his father, a prominent 
member of the bar, was a real lawyer or not. On being 
informed that he was, the boy at once asked, '' Then why 
does he have to practice? " 

Persistent attention to the use of good language. — It 
is generally admitted that the results of language teach- 
ing are not satisfactory. Notwithstanding the elaborately 
planned and frequently well-taught courses of study in 
English in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges, 
in too many instances the pupils and students who graduate 
from high school or college, or both high school and college, 
are unable to speak or to write with a reasonable degree 
of grammatical accuracy or to show any marked ability 
in the use of their mother tongue. While a part of the 
failure in language work is undoubtedly due to a type of 
teaching found in too many schools, which is so technical 
that it is lifeless and, therefore, of no real value, the unsatis- 
factory results secured are much more frequently due to a 
lack of cooperation in carrying out the course of language 
study prescribed in the elementary grades, and to the in- 
difference of many high school and college teachers to the 
work which the special teacher of English is earnestly 
attempting to do. In no subject is there greater need of 
persistent practice to insure satisfactory results than in 
language, and in the teaching of no subject is there a greater 
lack of the cooperation absolutely necessary to secure 
such persistent practice, than is often found in the teach- 
ing of language. 

Departmental instruction. — For many years depart- 



MUTUAL AID AND COMMON AIMS 24I 

mental teaching has been the rule in high schools. In 
more recent years it has also come into use in many gram- 
mar schools. With the advent of junior or intermediate 
high schools has come a large extension of this type of 
teaching. In many systems of schools the work of one 
teacher with all the pupils in all their studies ends with 
the sixth grade. While there are many arguments in 
favor of such departmental work, there are still some 
thoughtful and successful teachers and superintendents 
who have not yet been convinced that its introduction be- 
low the high school is advisable. Whatever difference of 
opinion may exist on this question, there can be no disagree- 
ment as to the absolute necessity of the cooperation of 
teachers who have charge of the departmental work in 
schools of any grade or type, if the best results are to be 
secured. To secure and to maintain such cooperation 
constitutes the most serious problem which confronts 
those who direct such teaching. 

The natural tendency of all special or departmental 
teachers is to magnify the importance of the subjects which 
they teach, and to minimize the importance of the subjects 
taught by all other teachers associated with them. The 
inevitable result of this tendency, if not directed or con- 
trolled by wise and firm supervision, is that the teacher of 
each subject will claim more than a fair proportion of the 
time and energy of pupils in the preparation of lessons 
assigned by him. If all the teachers persist in making such 
claims and are equally strong in enforcing their demands, 
many pupils are soon so overwhelmed with the unreasonable 
amount of work required of them that they become either 
discouraged or indifferent. If some teachers are more 

OUR PUB. S. — 16 



242 COOPERATION 

reasonable than others in the claims which they make, 
or are less dogmatic in enforcing their claims, they soon find 
their own work slighted by the pupils. To make the 
problem still more difficult, it is sometimes true that 
departmental teachers resent any supervision of their 
work, because of the ridiculous assumption that, since 
they have a special knowledge of the subjects which they 
teach, they must not submit to any advice or direction in 
their teaching. In many universities will be found fully 
matured representatives of this type of pedagogical bigots, 
and in some of the larger high schools less mature but not 
less conceited representatives can also be found. 

An interesting example. — In departmental teaching 
it is highly important that the teachers of different subjects 
shall recognize the intimate relation which these different 
subjects often bear to one another and, therefore, be ready 
at all times to cooperate in their teaching by frequent 
consultations with reference to their work. In some 
schools, teachers of Latin and English, for example, attempt 
to do their work as though these subjects were in no way 
related, when, in fact, they should be closely related in their 
presentation. Examples of the harmful results of the lack 
of cooperation in teaching these important subjects are 
too numerous. One illustration is recorded here. 

A young man, who had just graduated from a large high 
school of good standing, who was a good student, and who 
had taken the four years' course in Latin and the full course 
in English, consulted a friend with reference to the meaning 
of the word " pertinacious." He was referred to the dic- 
tionary. In a few minutes he reported that he was sur- 
prised to find that '' pertinacious," as he pronounced it, 



MUTUAL AID AND COMMON AIMS 243 

meant holding on to an opinion or purpose with obstinacy 
or " sticking to it," while he had thought it meant about 
the same as " pertinent." When asked whether " per- 
tinacious " was the correct pronunciation, he rephed that 
he had not thought of the pronunciation and, of course, 
he had not observed it, when looking for the meaning of the 
word. Further inquiry revealed the fact that he had also 
failed to pay any attention to the derivation of the word 
from the Latin, which he had studied for four years. An 
interesting conference followed in which the young man's 
attention was called, apparently for the first time, to the 
long list of adjectives such as pertinacious, rapacious, 
sagacious, and tenacious, which are pronounced with the 
long sound of '' a," and whose corresponding nouns, per- 
tinacity, rapacity, sagacity, and tenacity, are pronounced 
with the short sound of '' a." The use of the dictionary in 
finding the root meaning of words was also pointed out and 
the derivation of many English words from the Latin 
was discussed. The young man showed intense interest 
in both the pronunciation of words and their derivation, 
and most generously expressed his appreciation of what he 
had learned about them in the conference. The friend 
could not help wondering what his teachers of Latin and 
English had been doing all the four years they had taught 
the boy in the high school. Certainly they had not co- 
operated in their work in such a manner as to interest him 
in some of the things of fundamental importance in the 
study of both languages, or to teach him what every student 
ought to know thoroughly, viz. : how to use a dictionary 
with intelligence and purpose. 

Importance of united effort. — The frequent grade meetings 



244 COOPERATION 

held by and for the teachers of elementary schools usually 
furnish abundant opportunity for the discussion of the 
many problems of common interest to all of them, and by 
means of such discussion, for the cultivation of the spirit 
of cooperation which generally characterizes their work. 
It is unfortunately true, however, that the higher up we 
go in education, the less there seems to be of the spirit of 
mutual helpfulness among teachers. In some high schools 
its absence is much more in evidence than its presence, while 
in many colleges there is little or no attempt by the pro- 
fessors to work together for the common good of the 
students. 

Teaching in one-room country schools has in recent years 
been the subject of much investigation. The lack of united 
effort on the part of many of the teachers of these schools 
to work together for their betterment, due in many in- 
stances to a lack of proper supervision, has been frequently 
pointed out and severely criticized. It is a mistake, how- 
ever, to assume that the country schools are the only 
schools which need investigation, or whose teachers lack 
in making united effort for their improvement. In effect, 
there are many " one-room " schools located in large high 
school and college buildings and taught by teachers with 
as little interest in what is going on in other classrooms 
in the same building and with as little concern as to the 
general welfare of their students as can possibly be charged 
to the most indifferent teacher of a one-room school in the 
country. 

Supervision and cooperation. — Many benefits result 
from wise supervision of schools. Perhaps the greatest 
of all these benefits is found in the cultivation of the spirit 



MUTUAL AID AND COMMON AIMS 245 

of cooperation which such supervision always seeks to 
create and to maintain among the teachers under its 
direction. In no schools is this supervision more greatly 
needed than in secondary schools and higher institutions 
of learning, many of whose teachers are recent graduates 
of colleges, with little or no experience in teaching or 
knowledge of methods of presenting to their students the 
subject matter with which they may or may not be reason- 
ably familiar. Unfortunately, there is less direction of the 
work of teaching in these schools than in any other. Per- 
haps after the reform of the country schools, now attract- 
ing and receiving so much attention from educators, has 
been completed in a reasonable measure, and the teachers 
of these schools have been led to recognize the importance 
of cooperation with the pupils whom they teach and with 
one another, some attention can be given to the schools 
higher up. 

In recent years in a few instances teachers have organized 
to make demands upon superintendents and boards of 
education. With threats either direct or implied they have 
declared war upon all agencies which will not grant their 
demands and have vowed vengeance upon any one who, 
for any reason, failed to agree with their theories or to 
indorse their practices. In neither the method nor the 
purpose of such organizations is there anything of the true 
spirit of genuine cooperation. The domineering dogmatism 
which so often characterizes the activities of those who 
promote such organizations, and who insist upon directing 
their policy, is convincing proof that personal preferment 
is their main object. On the other hand when the true 
spirit of cooperation characterizes teachers, selfish ends 



246 COOPERATION 

are in a large measure lost sight of in an earnest desire to be 
mutually helpful for the common good of all. 

Instead of organizing to make arbitrary demands for 
advancement in position or increase in salary, teachers 
should cooperate to give more efficient service and thereby 
to merit the recognition which usually brings both advance- 
ment in position and increase in salary to those who deserve 
them. Whatever may be the merits or demerits of the 
" strike " as a means of securing the rights of labor in its 
contest with capital, the work of teaching is such that those 
who engage in it can never afford to resort to the methods 
sometimes used by " strikers " to secure recognition. 

All really professional teachers are characterized by a 
keen sense of what is right and proper in their relations with 
one another. They are careful never to violate either the 
letter or the spirit of that fine Professional Courtesy which 
avoids even the appearance of seeking, either directly or 
indirectly, positions rightfully belonging to others. '' An 
officially declared vacancy with no possibility of reelecting 
the present incumbent " is the only condition under which 
self-respecting teachers will permit themselves to be con- 
sidered as apphcants for a position which has been filled by 
another teacher. 

The Golden Rule. — In 1879 the Ohio State Teachers' 
Association appointed a committee, with instructions to 
report a Code of Professional Ethics at the next meeting 
of the Association. In accordance with these instructions, 
at the next meeting held in Chautauqua, N. Y., July 7-8, 
1880, Honorable W. D. Henkle, chairman of the committee, 
announced that while there was no formal report prepared 
for presentation, '' for himself he thought a sufficient code 



MUTUAL AID AND COMMON AIMS 247 

was embodied in the Scriptural Injunction stated either 
affirmatively or negatively, " Do unto others as you would 
have them do unto you," or, " Do not unto others as you 
would not have them do unto you." 

All teachers who are imbued with the true spirit of co- 
operation will readily give assent to this Code of Ethics. 
The Golden Rule of conduct formulated by the Great 
Teacher is the only basis of that genuine cooperation which 
eliminates selfishness and insures success. 



XVIII 
THE HELP OF THE HOME 

SUCCESS of teachers in cooperating with children in 
the disciphne and work of the school and with one 
another in all that pertains to the highest welfare 
both of the school and of the community in which the school 
is located, is the one sure foundation upon which to build 
cooperation with patrons. Unless teachers can and do 
prove their real worth by working successfully with the 
children in their daily tasks and by working harmoniously 
with one another in everything that pertains to the highest 
and best interests of the schools which they have been 
elected to serve, they have no right either to ask or to ex- 
pect the cooperation of the fathers and mothers whose 
children they teach. But when teachers do prove their 
worth by proving their ability to cooperate with their 
pupils and with one another, then they should have and, in- 
the majority of instances, they will have the hearty coop- 
eration of the homes of the community. 

Teachers should be leaders. — In securing this much 
desired cooperation without which the fullest measure of 
success is impossible, it is important that teachers should 
realize that it is always their privilege and usually their 
duty to take the initiative. Teachers cannot afford to 
rest upon any such false idea of dignity as will lead them to 
await the coming of parents to announce that they are 
ready to cooperate in making the school a success. Par- 

248 



THE HELP OF THE HOME 249 

ents naturally look to the teachers of their children for a 
positive manifestation of that friendly spirit which attracts 
other kindred spirits and which is an essential characteris- 
tic of teachers who really desire to work with the people of 
a community, through the schools, for the advancement of 
the highest and best interests of all. If teachers would 
have friends, they must show themselves genuinely friendly. 

Boarding around not without its advantages. — Few 
teachers are now living, who have had actual experience in 
" boarding around " which, in the earlier days, was a com- 
mon custom. While this custom undoubtedly had some 
features which were not highly desirable, it did provide an 
opportunity for teachers to gain an intimate acquaintance 
with the home life of both the children and their parents, 
and, by means of such acquaintance, to open up the way 
for cooperation between the home and the school. 

While teachers are no longer compelled to visit homes, as 
in the past, for boarding purposes, all teachers whose de- 
sire for cooperation leads them to appreciate the importance 
of a knowledge of the home conditions of their pupils wel- 
come every opportunity which presents itself for home 
visitation. Fortunate are those teachers who are able to 
visit homes with both pleasure and profit to themselves as 
well as to the children and their parents. The results which 
often follow such visits are of the immeasurable variety. 
Some of us can still recall the delight which came to us as 
children, when a loved teacher came to our home to take 
supper. If perchance he stayed all night, remained for 
breakfast, and permitted us to walk to school with him in 
the morning, enough joy was stored up to last for weeks or 
months. More than one individual can trace a determina- 



250 COOPERATION 

tion to get an education to such a home visit from a friendly 
teacher. 

Friendliness and hospitality. — Unfortunately, the in- 
creasing formalism which now characterizes social life, 
especially in towns and cities, renders less frequent the 
invitations of parents to teachers to accept the hospitality 
of their homes. Because of this condition, the children 
whose home life creates the greatest need for the intimate 
friendship of their teachers, are often entirely deprived 
of it. It is always difhcult to secure the cooperation of 
the home when the parents are the victims of the extreme 
formalities which sometimes characterize social usage. If 
such parents could only realize how much good they 
could do themselves, their children, the teachers of their 
children, the school, and the community by opening 
their homes and their hearts to the teachers, they would 
hasten to extend to them every courtesy and consideration 
within their power. By so doing, they would experience 
a joy which is unknown to all who live selfish and exclusive 
lives. Fortunately there still remain in all communities 
some homes in which teachers are always welcome guests. 
In such homes will always be found parents whose greatest 
pleasure is to cooperate with the teachers of their children 
in every movement which has for its purpose the betterment 
of the schools. 

To some of the poorer homes, representatives of which 
can be found in nearly all communities, a visit from an in- 
terested and sympathetic teacher will often come as a bene- 
diction to the parents. Such a visit will usually reveal to 
the teacher rare opportunities for giving such help as will 
secure the cooperation which is so much needed in order 



THE HELP OF THE HOME 251 

that the school may be enabled to render the highest 
service. 

What one teacher did. — Into a high school located in 
the center of a mining region, came a young woman who 
had been employed to teach the important subject of domes- 
tic science. She was well equipped in knowledge and by 
training secured in an excellent school from which she had 
graduated. In addition to her knowledge and training, 
she possessed two qualifications absolutely essential to 
success in her work. One of these qualifications was an 
unusual supply of good common sense which caused her 
to realize that her teaching of domestic science must be 
adapted to the conditions and needs of the homes from 
which her pupils came. The other qualification was a 
consuming desire to be really helpful in her teaching. She 
was anxious to serve not only the girls whom she had an 
opportunity to teach, but through her teaching of them to 
do all in her power to improve the home life of the com- 
munity. Within a few weeks after the opening of school, 
practically all the homes that had girls in the high school 
were visited. When possible the visits were so timed as to 
give the teacher an opportunity to gain some knowledge 
of the kind of food eaten and some idea of how it was pre- 
pared and served. With that rare tact known only to 
the teachers who are endowed with an abundance of com- 
mon sense and who are fully possessed by a consuming desire 
to be really helpful, she soon gained entrance into the hearts 
as well as the homes of the parents. The majority of these 
parents were of foreign birth. They were living in accord- 
ance with the customs of the countries from which they 
came and were in sad need of some influence to direct them 



252 COOPERATION 

to better things. As a result of the visits of the teacher, the 
confidence of the parents as well as that of the children was 
won to such an extent that she could talk freely to both 
parents and children about their home life. Having secured 
definite information as to the kind of food used in the home 
and of the changes necessary in cooking it in order that it 
might be made more palatable and more healthful, and a 
knowledge of the reforms necessary in housekeeping to 
make the home life more desirable, the teacher taught do- 
mestic science to the girls in such a manner as to give them a 
usable knowledge of how best to cook the kind of food served 
in their own homes and of how best to keep house in the 
midst of the surroundings in which they lived. In addi- 
tion to this knowledge, they gained from their teacher as 
well as from her teaching something of still greater impor- 
tance than the knowledge itself. This was a determination 
to use their knowledge in their homes in such a manner as 
to improve the cooking of food furnished and to make their 
homes more attractive in every way. The superintendent 
of schools in the community in which this high school is 
located is authority for the statement that many of the 
homes have been completely transformed as the result of 
the cooperative spirit manifested by the teacher of domestic 
science. It is, perhaps, needless to add that the parents in 
these homes are in hearty sympathy with the school and are 
always ready to cooperate in every possible way to help 
the teacher in her work. 

Teachers may help the homes. — To all teachers there 
comes in a greater or less degree an opportunity to manifest 
a spirit of cooperation by leaving the narrow path marked 
out by mere necessity and by going out of the way to do for 



THE HELP OF THE HOME 253 

their pupils and the homes from which they come something 
which is not required by the letter of the contract that 
teachers are usually expected to sign. It should be remem- 
bered however, that to depart from mere formal require- 
ments, in order to gain entrance to the hearts and homes of 
parents, always involves much additional work by teachers. 
But it is additional work which always brings in large returns 
and which invariably secures cooperation from parents. 
The domestic science teacher might have taught cooking 
and homemaking to the girls, as it is too often taught in 
schools, with no reference to the needs of the community. 
It would have required less effort to begin the work in the 
routine way than to visit the homes in order to gain a knowl- 
edge of their needs. The teaching, however, was made 
more effective in its results by the extra effort made in the 
beginning to discover the needs which should in a measure, 
at least, always determine the character of the teaching. 
And the cooperation of the home secured by this extra effort 
of the teacher made possible the success of the teaching. 
Home standards should be maintained. — Insistence 
that teachers should take the initiative in the work of secur- 
ing the cooperation of parents, and that they should go out 
of their way, if necessary, to show a personal interest in the 
homes from which their pupils come, does not signify that 
parents have no responsibility to assume in connection 
with the education of their own children or in relation to 
the success of the school which their children attend. Upon 
all parents there rests a responsibility which cannot be 
evaded or neglected without serious loss to their children 
and to the school. No teacher, however faithful in the per- 
formance of her duties or however sympathetic with her 



254 COOPERATION 

pupils, can entirely fill the place of the parents in the life of 
the child. No school however efficient can fully take the 
place of the home. 

It is impossible not to view with regret and anxiety the 
present tendency to turn over to the public schools more 
and more of the moral as well as of the physical and intel- 
lectual education and training of children, and, thereby, 
to require teachers to assume more and more of the respon- 
sibility which many homes no longer seem willing to carry. 
While this tendency seems quite complimentary to the 
public schools and their teachers, it is an indication of a 
letting down of home standards, which is not at all com- 
plimentary to the home. Neither is it encouraging to the 
school, because in the majority of instances homes that 
evade the responsibility which rightfully belongs to them 
fail to give cooperation to the teachers to whom they have 
attempted to transfer all the responsibility connected with 
the education and training of their children. The less 
parents do for their own children in the home the less they 
are willing to do to help the teachers of the schools 
which their children attend. It is highly important for the 
welfare of all concerned that recognition be given to the 
fact that there are some duties belonging to the home 
which cannot be delegated to any school, and which, if 
neglected by the home, must remain unperformed, to the 
lasting injury of child life and to the serious detriment of 
the highest and best interests of society and the state. 

The home has its responsibilities. — There is a general 
agreement that it is well to keep the public school buildings 
open for the use of both the children and their parents for 
longer periods each day and for many more days of the 



THE HELP OF THE HOME 255 

year than has usually been customary in the past. But an 
attempt to substitute the school for the home as an abiding 
place, or to substitute the teacher for the father and mother 
in assuming entire responsibility for the training of children 
is not to be commended. It is always unwise, to say the 
least, for the school to attempt to compete with the home 
in the performance of duty for which the home should be 
held primarily responsible. If parents make no attempt 
to control their children outside of school, they have no 
right to expect the teachers to do what they, as parents, 
have neglected or failed to do. If, as the result of the failure 
of parents to secure obedience from their children outside 
of school, the children spend their time in pool rooms, dance 
halls, and other places of questionable character, the school 
should not be expected, required, or permitted to introduce 
into school either during school hours or in the evening at 
the schoolhouse, card games, pool tables, and dancing in 
order to counteract the evil influence outside of school, re- 
sulting from the indifference of parents to the welfare of 
their own children. If questionable games and practices 
are to be introduced into the activities of the school in 
order to protect children from outside temptations, we may 
well inquire what is to be the outcome of such a policy. If 
the policy of substituting the school for the home be per- 
sisted in, a little later on we may expect some reformer to 
propose the building of schoolhouses which can be utilized 
as apartments for the family. In such buildings the parents 
as well as the children could spend all their time under 
the care and direction of teachers. By such a plan all re- 
sponsibility would be transferred from the home to the 
school, and parents would thereby be relieved of all care. 



256 COOPERATION 

Moreover the public schools have no right to introduce 
into the life of the children who attend them any activities 
or practices which do not meet with the approval of a large 
number of parents, because of conscientious scruples against 
such activities and practices. The schools have always 
been most careful not to interfere in the slightest degree 
with the religious opinions or convictions of anyone by 
teaching sectarianism in any form. It is equally important 
that the schools be just as careful not to sanction games, 
amusements, or practices concerning the moral influence of 
which there exists an honest difference of opinion among 
parents. 

High school pupils and special privileges. — The sug- 
gestion is sometimes made that while pupils below the high 
school should not be permitted to indulge in such games, 
amusements, or practices in the evenings at the schoolhouse, 
because they should be in their homes under parental con- 
trol and in bed early to secure needed sleep, high school 
pupils should be released from such parental control and 
should find in the schoolhouse in the evenings an opportu- 
nity to gratify their social desires and instincts. From such 
suggestions as this come some of the greatest difficulties 
which at present confront the high school. One of the most 
serious hindrances to the best work in high schools is found 
in the harmful indulgences granted to children outside of 
school hours by foolish parents who seem to be suffering 
from the delusion that boys and girls of high school age 
should no longer be subjected to any restraining influences 
in the home, but should be continually entertained and 
amused. Teachers are constantly told that high school 
boys and girls must not be overworked. Many parents 



THE HELP OF THE HOME 257 

need to be told in such a manner as to lead them to take 
heed, if such telling be possible, that these same boys and 
girls, whose rapidly growing bodies require not only plenty 
of food and exercise, but also an abundance of sleep in order 
that they may grow physically, mentally, and morally 
strong, must not be over-indulged and " over-societied " 
while out of school. At no time in the life of children are 
home restraints and firm parental control more greatly 
needed than during high school age. If parents would 
wisely exercise such control of their children and would 
administer wholesome discipline in the home when needed, 
there would never be any occasion for asking the school to 
save their children from evil influences outside of school. 

In the so-called lower walks of life, parents are sometimes 
cited to appear in court where they are required to give bond 
as a guarantee that they will properly care for their children. 
There are good reasons to believe that the jurisdiction of 
the court should be extended so as to include some parents 
higher up in the social scale who admit their failure to care 
properly for their children by asking the public schools to 
provide for their oversight both in school and out of school, 
by night as well as by day. 

The public school should be a mighty agency for good 
in every community. — It should enter sympathetically 
into the life of children whenever and wherever possible. 
It should constantly give the pupils who attend it that train- 
ing in respect for authority and in obedience to law which 
is so essential to growth in character and so fundamental in 
good citizenship. It should do all that can be done to 
arouse interest in study and to make pupils happy in their 
work. It should join with the home in providing at proper 

OUR PUB. S. 17 



258 COOPERATION 

times and under favorable conditions wholesome entertain- 
ment and amusement for both children and adults. It 
should cooperate in every possible way with the home in 
surrounding children both in school and out of school with 
such influences as will develop and conserve all that is best 
in life and character. But in doing all this, the public school 
cannot take the place of the home. Unless the home per- 
forms the duties incumbent upon it, boys and girls of school 
age must suffer as a result. Unless parents do their duty 
in the home and thereby cooperate with the teachers in the 
school in giving the proper training to the rising generation, 
it is unreasonable to censure the school for the inferior 
product which is certain to result from a lack of such coop- 
eration. 



XIX 

COOPERATION OF TEACHERS AND PATRONS 

THE attitude of parents toward teachers, as well as 
the treatment of parents by teachers, is an im- 
portant factor in determining whether or not co- 
operation shall characterize the relations existing between 
them. If the home is indifferent to the welfare of the 
school, there is little hope of cooperation between parents 
and teachers. If the home is in sympathy with the school 
and is willing to help the teachers in their work, cooperation 
is certain to follow. There are many ways in which the 
home can help the school and thereby show a willingness 
on the part of parents to cooperate. 

Attitude of parents toward teachers. — In the first 
place the home can help the school by a clear realization, 
together with a definite recognition of the fact that, in 
aims and purposes, their mission is one and the same. 
This mission is the development of all that is highest and 
best in Hfe and character. In the home the children should 
always be led to think of their teachers as friends who are 
anxious to help the parents in securing what is best for their 
children. It is encouraging to think that in the majority 
of instances the relations between home and school and 
parents and teachers are growing more cordial. But it is 
sad to relate that there are still too many instances of a 
lack of this cordial relationship which is so essential to the 
success of the school. 

259 



26o COOPERATION 

Mistakes of parents. — A few years ago in one of the 
smaller towns of the middle west, a visitor was taking an 
evening walk. A short distance ahead of him, a small 
boy was playing on the sidewalk, A shrill voice, pitched 
in a high key and belonging to some one inside of the adjoin- 
ing house, stern'y commanded the boy to stop playing and 
to come into the house. This voice at once attracted the 
attention of the visitor but it had no effect on the boy, 
who no doubt heard the call which he certainly did not 
heed. The voice from the inside of the house grew louder 
and harsher in repeating the command. But the boy 
played right on, apparently indifferent to any call from any 
source. Suddenly a woman — undoubtedly the mother — 
emerged from the door with broom in hand. In an angry 
and excited manner, she addressed the boy : 

" You won't mind me, won't you? Well, you just wait 
till next September, when I'll start you to school, and then 
I guess you'll catch it ! " 

Occasionally thoughtless parents try to frighten their 
children into obedience by telling them that some wild 
animal will devour them, if they do not do what they are 
told to do. Sometimes even the fear of the devil, himself, 
is aroused in the minds of children to help in securing good 
behavior. But this fond mother had so far advanced in 
her methods of parental control that she was able to re- 
nounce all such inferior helps and to call to her aid, several 
months in advance, the prospective teacher of her dis- 
obedient boy in an attempt to secure home discipline. 
With such home preparation as this mother's treatment of 
her boy furnished, he would enter school with the feeling 
that his teacher was an enemy to be feared and shunned. 



COOPERATION OF TEACHERS AND PATRONS 26 1 

rather than a friend to be honored and loved. With such a 
feeUng in the heart of the boy, the teacher's effort to win 
his confidence would be useless. Not until all such feeling 
was eradicated could the teacher hope to exercise a whole- 
some influence in his life or to direct his work in a satis- 
factory manner. 

What the home can do. — The home can also help the 
school in the important work of disciphne — that discipline 
which teaches respect for rightly constituted authority 
and obedience to wholesome regulations — that discipline 
which produces good behavior and which results in good 
character. No sane person doubts the necessity of such 
discipline in the training of children. The occasional plea 
of sentimental theorists that in this progressive age no 
discipline of any kind is needed, can well be ignored by 
both parents and teachers. To come in contact with a 
" modern " child reared under the direction of a " modern " 
mother who has applied the " modern " theory that no 
discipline is essential to the development of character will 
convince any one of the absurdity of such a claim. A brief 
visit to a school in which pupils are permitted to do as 
they please will usually serve to arouse pity for the pupils 
who are the helpless victims of the resulting disorder, 
together with contempt for the teacher who is primarily 
responsible for it. 

Corporal punishment. — The intelligent, tactful teacher, 
whose head is clear, heart warm, and will strong, can usually 
succeed in discipline without resorting to corporal punish- 
ment in any form. In the past, in too many instances, such 
punishment has been inflicted without reason or excuse by 
ignorant, indifferent, or brutal teachers with uncontrollable 



262 COOPERATION 

tempers, whose only hope of subduing their pupils was by- 
such a constant manifestation of physical force as kept the 
children in a state of perpetual fear. The frequent use 
of the rod in either the home or the school is always a sign 
of weakness on the part of the parent or the teacher who 
resorts to such use. The less frequent use of the rod in 
both home and school, as compared with the past, is an 
indication that parents and teachers are becoming wiser, 
more humane, and, therefore, more competent to direct 
the young lives committed to their care. 

Notwithstanding the fact that, as a result of a better 
understanding of child nature and of a wiser and more 
humane treatment of children, the rod has been banished 
in a large measure from all well-directed homes and well- 
managed schools, it is not wise for either parents, teachers, 
or boards of education to announce that under no cir- 
cumstances will corporal punishment be inflicted or per- 
mitted. To make such an announcement is the best way 
to encourage the occasional outlaw — and there are usually 
a few representatives of this class even in the best com- 
munities — to indulge in such acts of disobedience and 
insubordination as can be properly met only by the punish- 
ment which has been prohibited. The surest way to make 
corporal punishment necessary is to advertise that it will 
never be administered. 

Threats and promises. — It is related that in the South- 
land a negro farmer at one time missed several chickens 
from his hen house. On another occasion two shoats mys- 
teriously disappeared from their pen. To determine, if 
possible, the source of these thefts, he seated himself one 
night at a good point of observation, and with shot gun in 



COOPERATION OF TEACHERS AND PATRONS 263 

hand awaited developments. Shortly after midnight, he 
was surprised to see one of his colored neighbors stealthily 
approach his premises and proceed to help himself to 
several more choice fowls and another pig. The farmer 
pointed the shot gun in the direction of the thief, ordered 
him to replace the stolen property where it belonged, and 
then to get down on his knees and solemnly promise never 
again to steal any more chickens or pigs. The '' darkey " 
replaced the stolen property as ordered, and then turning 
to his neighbor remarked that, while he was willing to 
carry out that part of his order, he did not propose " to 
sign away any of his rights." 

Wise parents, sensible teachers, and prudent boards of 
education never indulge in threats as to what will be done, 
or in promises as to what will not be done in the future. 
They fully appreciate the meaning of the injunction — 
" Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." " In the 
place of the parent " is the legal status of teachers, which 
has been repeatedly sustained by the highest courts of 
the different states. Neither parents nor teachers have 
any right, moral or legal, to abuse children in any way. 
Both parents and teachers have the right, and it is their 
duty, so to discipline children as to develop in them the 
traits of character which are fundamentally necessary in all 
good citizens. It is always desirable and usually possible 
to secure such discipline without resort to corporal punish- 
ment. In the few instances in which it is necessary to 
use such punishment, teachers should not be interfered 
with either by unwise parents who are incapable of secur- 
ing home discipline, or by imprudent boards of education 
whose members pass unnecessary rules for the guidance of 



264 COOPERATION 

teachers. In no instance is it wise for parents, teachers, 
or boards of education " to sign away any of their rights." 

Parental cooperation in school discipline. — That the 
problem of school discipline is a difficult one is evident to 
all who have given it any thoughtful consideration. The 
old saying that it is hard to manage forty boys and girls — 
not forty acting like one, but each one acting like forty — 
helps us to a realization of what the problem really is. 
The marvel is that the public schools, with their millions 
of pupils, move on in their important work with so little 
friction in their discipline. So seldom is there any serious 
trouble in their management that, when any difficulties 
do arise, the newspapers usually publish a sensational 
account of them as a choice morsel of news. It is within 
the bounds of truth to state that the average public school 
runs with less friction in its government than the average 
home. Parents will no doubt admit that, in their own 
homes, with their own children, scenes sometimes occur, 
which they would not like to see described in the news- 
papers in the manner which too often characterizes news- 
paper accounts of occasional school difficulties. The ex- 
periences of parents with their own children should lead 
them to be more sympathetic with teachers in their difficult 
task, and less critical of their actions, even should they 
happen to make mistakes. If parents cannot always be 
patient with the actions of their own children, they should 
not be too severe in their denunciation of teachers who may 
occasionally manifest impatience with the actions of forty 
or more children of different dispositions and tempera- 
ments, coming from all types and kinds of homes. 

Parental anxiety — and what parent is not anxious about 



COOPERATION OF TEACHERS AND PATRONS 265 

his own children ? ^ may well stop to ponder the anxiety of 
teachers as they strive to devise ways and means to help 
the children in the struggles that must always accompany 
growth in character, and as they work on day by day with 
the children, with the knowledge that failure sometimes 
results from their most earnest efforts. The sympathy of 
parents with teachers is one of the greatest needs of the 
public schools. Because of a lack of this sympathy many 
teachers fail. Without such sympathy there can be no 
cooperation between teachers and patrons. 

The school a disciplinary force. — Few people fully 
realize the great value of the public school to any com- 
munity, simply as a disciplinary force. In too many in- 
stances the public school is the only place where children 
are taught obedience of any kind. As an illustration of such 
an instance, the experience of a superintendent of schools 
is in place. 

As this superintendent glanced out of his office window 
one morning, he noticed that a father and mother were 
approaching the school building and attempting to bring 
their small boy with them. He was pulling back with all 
his might and declaring in a most emphatic manner that 
he would not go to school. The combined efforts of the 
father and mother finally succeeded in overcoming the 
frantic efforts of the boy who was dragged into the super- 
intendent's office. Standing there with a rebellious, dis- 
obedient, and determined spirit showing in his every look 
and movement, he was the product of that lack of home 
discipline which sometimes makes the discipline of the 
school so difficult. Holding on to their boy, who gave 
many indications of a determination to escape, should the 



266 COOPERATION 

slightest opportunity present itself, the parents made the 
humiliating confession that he was entirely beyond their 
control and that he would not obey them at all. They then 
expressed the hope that the school might succeed in doing 
what they, as parents, admitted they had failed to do. 
The superintendent placed this disobedient, willful boy in 
charge of a primary teacher whose room was already over- 
crowded. In a few weeks, he had learned by kind but 
exceedingly firm treatment to keep step to the splendid 
discipline of a modern primary school, and to do what he 
was requested to do by his teacher. In a few months the 
boy's father appeared before the board of education to 
complain of what he termed the harsh discipline of the 
school. It is usually the fathers or mothers of such boys 
who are apt to complain about the discipline of the school 
and to criticize the teacher who succeeds in doing what 
they, as parents, confess they have been unable to do. Few 
parents who have totally failed in home discipline are 
willing to cooperate with teachers in school discipline. 
When obedience is taught and enforced in the home, the 
problem of school discipline is usually easily solved. But 
when there is a lack of parental control, coupled with 
constant criticism of the teacher who insists upon a proper 
regard for the authority of the school together with obe- 
dience to all reasonable requirements, effective school 
discipline is made much more difhcult. 

An example of cooperation of teacher and parent. — 
Another incident in the experience of a village school 
principal will serve to illustrate the spirit of cooperation 
which should characterize parents in their relations with 
teachers. This principal had charge of the room in which 



COOPERATION OF TEACHERS AND PATRONS 267 

were seated all the advanced pupils. The enrollment was 
large and included pupils of varied capacities and needs. 
The number of different subjects to be taught to the large 
number of pupils made the work exceedingly difficult. In 
addition to his duties as teacher of his own pupils, the 
principal was expected to supervise the work of the other 
teachers, to exercise a general oversight of the playground, 
to attend to the general disciphne of the entire school, and 
to meet all the requirements, both in school and out of 
school, which came to a village school principal at the time 
in which he served. In his own room was a boy with 
marked ability to prepare lessons with rapidity as well as 
to make trouble, when he was not engaged in study. In 
theory it is easy to suggest that all that is necessary to 
control such a boy is to keep him busy with purposeful 
work. In practice all teachers know that, with scores of 
other pupils to look after, it is not always possible to carry 
out such a theory with a mischief-making pupil. 

One forenoon the boy in question was more troublesome 
than usual and was requested to remain at noon for a 
conference with the principal. In this conference an appeal 
was made to him to stop the practices which had annoyed 
his teacher and disturbed the school. The appeal was ac- 
companied with some very definite statements as to what 
would follow if he did not of his own accord change his 
conduct. When the boy reached home, his father, who had 
finished his lunch, asked him why he was late. In the 
appealing tone of voice so easily assumed by boys of his 
type, he replied that he had been kept in. The father then 
asked what he had been kept in for. The boy's laconic 
reply — the reply usually given under such circumstances — 



268 COOPERATION 

was " Nothing." The father then told him that, since 
he had been kept in for '' nothing " it would be necessary 
to proceed at once to protect him from such injustice in the 
future. The only way to insure such protection would be 
for the father and the boy to visit the principal, who lived 
only a short distance away, with the purpose of righting 
the wrong which had been done to the boy. When this 
proposal was made, the boy immediately surrendered, with 

the observation — "Don't take me up there. Mr 

(the principal) is the last man on earth I want to meet, 
with you along! " The principal, not knowing what was 
happening in the boy's home at the time, had gone to his 
own home for lunch. He ate Httle, because he was too 
much worried to care for food. He feared that he might 
not have pursued the wisest course. He was anxious about 
the future results of the conference. Badly discouraged 
he started back to school. Glancing ahead, he noticed that 
the father was standing on the sidewalk, evidently waiting 
to see him. There at once came to him the thought that 
the father would condemn him and defend the boy, and 
he prepared for the ordeal which he imagined confronted 
him. To his surprise, the father met him in a most cordial 
manner, and then proceeded to relate the conversation 
which he had just had with his boy. He followed this with 
the suggestion that he suspected that the boy was hard to 
manage, since he was evidently a '' chip off of the old 
block." 

The cordial manner shown by the father and his willing- 
ness to admit that his boy was not an angel, opened up the 
way to a friendly consideration of his misconduct and led 
to a thorough understanding of how the home and school 



COOPERATION OF TEACHERS AND PATRONS 269 

could cooperate in- bringing about the needed reform. The 
boy was an only child. The father admitted that, at 
times, it was difficult for his parents to decide upon what 
was best to be done to insure the best results, and then in 
the spirit of true cooperation said to the principal that he 
believed that, working together, the parents and teacher 
could save the boy. After that interview, the principal re- 
turned to his school with a light heart, in the full knowledge 
that no trouble could come in relation to the behavior of the 
boy which could not be satisfactorily met, because of the 
assured cooperation between the parents and teacher. To 
save boys and girls to lives of usefulness is the chief business 
of both the home and the public school. To succeed in 
this mission requires the united efforts of parents and 
teachers. Without the sympathetic support of the home, 
the best efforts of the school are often of little avail. And 
the saddest thing about the failure which results from a 
lack of cooperation between parents and teachers is that 
the children involved pay the penalty. 

Lincoln's appeal to Americans. — One of the chief factors 
in making and keeping the world safe for democracy is 
education which leads to respect for authority and obedience 
to law. Long ago, Abraham Lincoln recognized the im- 
portance of such education and urged that it be made 
universal in homes, schools, and churches. On January 
27, 1837, ^^ delivered his remarkable address on '' The 
Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions." The following 
quotation from this address should be so taught to all 
American youth that its sentiments will find a place in 
their hearts and its teachings will be practiced in their 
lives : 



270 COOPERATION 

"Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher 
to his posterity swear by the blood of the Revolution never to violate 
in the least particular the laws of the country, and never to tolerate 
their violation by others. As the patriots of seventy-six did to the 
support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the 
Constitution and laws let every American pledge his life, his property, 
and his sacred honor — let every man remember that to violate the 
law is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter 
of his own and his children's liberty. Let reverence for the law be 
breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles 
on her lap ; let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges ; 
let it be written in primers, spelling books, and in almanacs ; let it 
be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and en- 
forced in courts of justice. And in short, let it become the political 
religion of the nation ; and let the old and the young, the rich and the 
poor, the grave and the gay of all sexes and tongues and colors and 
conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars." 

In this commercial age when the cry against any attempt 
to enforce the laws against dishonest practices is so often 
heard from those who claim that such enforcement is a 
menace to the business interests of the country, Lincoln's 
appeal " never to violate in the least particular the laws 
of the country, and never to tolerate their violation by 
others," comes with renewed force. To this call for respect 
for authority and obedience to law all homes and schools 
should rally with determination to cooperate in every 
possible way in teaching to the children of the nation such 
lessons of obedience as will insure a law-abiding citizenship 
in the days to come. 



XX 

PARENTS AND THE SCHOOL 

IN the important work of securing the appKcation and 
industry necessary for pupils to obtain an education, 
the help of the home is an absolute necessity to the 
success of the school. In these days of marvelous progress 
in science and in invention, care must be exercised by 
those in educational authority lest the people become 
inoculated with the notion that there is after all some 
royal road to learning over which children can be carried, 
without effort on their part, to an education. We now 
talk so far and with such great ease, travel so rapidly and 
comfortably at so little expense, and enjoy so many material 
comforts and mechanical conveniences that it is difficult 
not to conclude that there ought to be some way of getting 
an education without any great amount of application and 
industry or serious effort. 

The progress of science and invention. — At the Phila- 
delphia Centennial there was an electrical exhibit which at 
that time was considered marvelous. Three electric nov- 
elties were of intense interest to all who witnessed this 
exhibit. They were the electric light, the telephone, and a 
small trolley car which was operated at certain hours each 
day to the great amusement of the crowds of people who 
were present. Backward and forward along the miniature 
track on which it ran, this wonderful car made its mysterious 

271 



272 COOPERATION 

journeys. The fact that it was moved by an invisible 
power led some persons to suspect that a magician, hidden 
somewhere near by, was directing its movements. In fact 
an elderly man one day expressed what was in the minds of 
many, who were watching the moving car, by the obser- 
vation : " You can't fool me. There's somebody some- 
where pushin' that thing." More than one visitor to the 
Centennial came away feeling that this explanation was the 
correct one. Very few of the observers, with the possible 
exception of the scientists who knew the facts and who, 
with something of prophetic vision, could foresee the 
wonderful future of electricity, ever dreamed that those 
electric novelties would ever come into general use. But 
what were novelties and curiosities then are prime necessities 
in the social and business life of to-day. The electric light 
is now found everywhere, in country as well as in city, 
literally turning night into day. We constantly use the 
telephone, often wondering how we ever lived without it. 
And we are told that in the near future we may be able to 
sit in our homes or offices and talk to our friends anywhere 
and everywhere with no " hello-girl " to intervene or 
" automatic busy-buzz " to interfere. Trolley cars are no 
longer confined to cities and towns, but carry their millions 
of passengers everywhere throughout the country. 

No royal road to learning. — It is perhaps not surprising 
that in the midst of all this rapid change and progress in 
material things, there should be many parents and some 
teachers who have formed the hasty and false conclusion 
that, by this time, some inventive genius in the educational 
world should have provided some kind of electric educa- 
tional railway on which children can be placed at from four 



PARENTS AND THE SCHOOL 273 

to six years of age-, a few nickels be dropped into the slot 
to pay their passage, and no further attention be paid to 
them by the home until they are graduated at the other end 
of the line, with a diploma as a sort of remembrance of the 
pleasures of the delightful journey which was characterized 
by the constant presence of ease and the complete absence 
of effort. In too many instances parents seem to be more 
anxious to have their children go through school than they 
are to have the school go through their children. With 
such parents graduation is considered far more important 
than education. In the language of Dean Briggs of Har- 
vard University, 

"Many parents regard school and college as far less serious in 
demands than business ; a place of delightful irresponsibility where 
youth may disport himself for a season before he is condemned to hard 
labor." 

Parental mistakes. — Parents of this type are a real 
menace to the success of any school. Their influence both 
in their own homes with their own children and in the com- 
munity where they live is always harmful. Should they 
happen to be, as they sometimes are, influential in financial 
circles and able to purchase social standing, they can make 
serious trouble for teachers and superintendents who insist 
that application and industry are absolutely necessary for 
all pupils rich or poor. 

No school, however efficient, can give an education to any 
one. If such a thing were possible, no doubt the percentage 
of educated people would be much larger than at present. 
Fortunately an education cannot be bought. If it could, 
thousands of rich people, who are unwilling to have their 

OUR PUB. S, 18 



f 



274 COOPERATION 

children pay the price of application and industry to secure 
an education, would bid high in the market for even a 
small supply. All that any school can give to any one is a 
chance to work out his own educational salvation. There 
are not and there cannot be any short cuts to an education. 
There are no easy ways of learning to think. Work may 
be made pleasanter and school life may be made happier 
by better methods and wiser teachers. But hard work will 
ever remain a prime necessity in winning honorable success 
either in obtaining an education or in using it after it is 
obtained. 

Country boys versus city boys. — The success of country- 
bred men is a matter of frequent reference and favorable 
comment. There is no denying the fact that a large major- 
ity of the most successful business and professional men 
were reared in the country in the midst of many apparent 
disadvantages. Two factors have entered into their early 
training, which will, in a measure at least, help to explain 
their success, sometimes credited to the supposed mental 
and moral superiority of country boys as compared with 
town or city boys — a superiority which has no existence 
in fact. 

Country boys are usually so trained in early life, both 
by teaching and by experience, as to cause them to take 
responsibility seriously. The assumption of such respon- 
sibility leads them to take the initiative, when necessary, 
in doing the work of the home. The many chores which 
are incident to the life of the farm all tend to develop the 
sense of responsibility and the habit of taking the initiative 
in doing things which need to be done. Country boys do 
not usually have any greater longing for such performance 



PARENTS AND THE SCHOOL 275 

of duty than their city cousins. But in the experience of 
the former, the tasks are present and must be performed, 
while in the Kfe of the latter, the absence of such demands 
tends to develop the inertia of rest rather than that of 
motion and to produce habits of idleness rather than a 
willingness to work. The constant presence of work of 
some kind demanding careful attention on the farm is a 
strong factor in training country boys in the habits of 
industry so necessary in winning success. The almost 
complete absence of work for city boys in the unoccupied 
hours of their school days, and especially during vacation, 
is a constant menace to their welfare as well as a constant 
source of anxiety to thoughtful parents who reaHze that 
the " devil always has something for idle hands to do." 

Several years ago a prominent citizen of a large city, in 
talking with an intimate friend, remarked that he was 
sometimes at a loss to know what to do with his three boys 
during the summer time — that he was afraid of the idle- 
ness of the vacation. The friend, knowing that this 
father, like himself, was reared on the farm, could not 
refrain from smiling as he inquired whether, in his boyhood 
home, there was ever any similar anxiety of those in 
authority. All who were reared on the farm can readily 
answer this inquir}^ They will recall that in their boy- 
hood days all the farmers seemed to have work planned 
ahead for at least twenty-five years, even the rainy days 
being fully provided for with work in the barn or wood- 
house. To this father, however, the problem was a very 
different one. He had good reason to be anxious about 
his three boys and to be afraid of the idleness of the vaca- 
tion in a large city. Those three boys have since grown 



276 COOPERATION 

to manhood. All of them are now filling important places 
in business and professional life. All are young men of 
character — a credit and a comfort to their parents. And 
they are what they are largely because their father's fear 
of the idleness of the vacation led him to see to it that his 
boys always had something to do in the vacation time. 
The work which was secured for them, or which they often 
took the initiative in securing for themselves, was not 
usually such as could be performed with unsoiled hands, or 
without tired muscles. But however exacting the demands, 
they were cheerfully met. 

Importance of home training. — In many cities much is 
being done to improve the opportunities of children for 
work. Vacation schools are being established and indus- 
trial training introduced. But none of these things can 
ever fully take the place of home training which strives 
constantly to impress children with a sense of responsibility 
in the performance of home duties, and which persistently 
insists upon home work in the preparation of lessons — 
home work, not by the parents for the children, but by the 
children for themselves. One of the inexplainable things 
which teachers are often compelled to witness with sincere 
regret is the constant effort of parents who are strong in 
ability and character, because of having been compelled 
to work their own way to success in the midst of dis- 
advantages, to remove every semblance of difficulty from 
the educational pathway of their children. In their attempt 
to relieve their children of all hard work by practically 
getting their lessons for them, such parents, through mis- 
taken kindness, rob them of an opportunity to grow strong 
by means of the discipline of self-help. In too many 



PARENTS AND THE SCHOOL 277 

instances the benefits of home study are lost to children 
because of the mistaken kindness of an over-indulgent 
father or mother. 

In some instances children of wealthy families turn out 
to be worthless in life, because they are not taught either 
to work, themselves, or to respect those who do work. If 
the public school insists upon honest effort as the only 
condition of success, such children are either permitted to 
quit school or are sent to some fashionable private school 
where money is supposed to be able to purchase what the 
children have been unwilling or incompetent to earn by 
their own efforts. In other instances parents who have 
worked their way through college send their indolent sons 
to the most expensive institution the country affords, 
and give them all the money they want to be squandered 
in dissipation. When vacation comes such sons sometimes 
have to be sent to some seaside resort to recuperate their 
energies for another year of dissipation. Unfortunately, 
there are still a few so-called schools which harbor young 
people of this type. 

Hard work necessary to success. — Sometimes children 
of real promise are spoiled by being made to feel that, 
because they are bright, hard study is unnecessary. It is 
dangerous for young persons to entertain the notion that 
they can succeed by their wits without honest, persistent 
effort. Thomas Edison has been quoted as saying that 
success is made up of five per cent of native ability and 
ninety-five per cent of hard work. Whether this statement 
represents the relative proportions of the ingredients of 
which success is composed may be a debatable question. 
But there can be no doubt of the fact that the probabilities 



278 COOPERATION 

of doing something worth while in the world are much 
greater for students who put forth one hundred per cent 
of effort in connection with a relatively small per cent of 
abihty than for students who have one hundred per cent 
of ability but who put forth only a relatively small per 
cent of effort. It is possible that if class honors, usually 
conferred on commencement day, were deferred for fifteen 
or twenty years after graduation, a more just recognition 
of real worth might be given. It would then be made 
plain that not simply native abihty alone is essential to 
success but that constant use of and application of that 
ability in persistent hard work on the problems of life are 
even more important. 

Lowering the standards. — One of the danger points in 
school administration is found in the tendency to heed 
demands to let down the standard of effort and to assume 
that, if children attend school with a fair degree of regu- 
larity, they will absorb knowledge and the ability to use it. 
These demands sometimes come in the form of an insistence 
by some parents that no home study be required of children 
under any circumstances. Sensational papers and maga- 
zines join in these demands with the specious plea that boys 
and girls in the public schools must be protected from 
" nervous prostration " due to overwork in grammar 
schools and high schools. It is possible that there may be 
found in the public schools a few girls who are the victims 
of overwork resulting from the demands of over-ambitious 
parents or the requirements of unreasonable teachers. 
There can be no doubt that a much larger number can be 
found who are the victims of " nervous prostration " 
because of premature entrance into society, which takes 



PARENTS AND THE SCHOOL 279 

them out to parties, dances, and theaters several nights 
each week, when they should be at home in bed getting 
wholesome sleep. Examples of boys overworked in the 
public schools are hard to find. But examples of boys 
ruined in body, mind, and soul by cigarette smoking, per- 
mitted in some homes and even encouraged by the practices 
of some fathers, are found on every hand. 

It is highly important that all sensible parents cooperate 
with teachers in protecting the schools against the demands 
that standards of work be lowered to meet the requirements 
of parents who care more for society than they do for 
education, and in giving proper recognition of the value of 
application and industry in the lives of children. 

Unfair criticism of teachers. — Fairness and justice 
demand that teachers should never be condemned without 
a hearing. Our constitution guarantees that the worst 
criminal shall be confronted by his accusers and be given a 
chance not only to defend himself but also to have an 
attorney to conduct his defense at the expense of the 
state ; that the trial be conducted by an impartial judge ; 
and that the final decision as to the guilt or innocence of 
the accused shall be determined by a jury of twelve men 
sworn to render a verdict in strict accordance with the 
evidence presented. 

Public school teachers are not always accorded this 
courtesy. Too often they are the victims of unfair criticism 
by parents who act upon '' hearsay " evidence which would 
not be permitted in any court of justice engaged in the 
trial of criminals of any type. Not infrequently teachers 
are condemned without a hearing upon silly reports of 
what really never happened. Because of these unfair criti- 



28o COOPERATION 

cisms and the resulting unjust condemnation of teachers, 
it is necessary that a plea be made that the home help the 
school by such cooperation on the part of parents as will 
lead them to pay no attention to the idle rumors afloat in 
all communities regarding the work of the school, or to the 
necessarily biased reports of alleged partiahty or injustice 
of teachers. In the majority of instances such rumors and 
reports originate with children who have been justly 
disciplined for some offense and who desire to make trouble 
for the teacher. The sleeping car passenger who was 
aroused and urged to desist from his loud snoring which 
was keeping all the other passengers awake, and who, in 
reply to his question, '' How do you know I was snoring? " 
was told that every one heard him, and who then replied, 
" Well, you mustn't beheve all you hear," stated a truth 
which, if heeded by parents, would bring great relief to 
teachers who are not infrequently misrepresented and mis- 
understood because of the credence given to idle rumors. 

Gossip. — Some of us can vividly recall a game that was 
quite popular in the country schools which we attended. 
This game was played on rainy days when outdoor sports 
were not possible. How distinctly memory recalls the 
appearance of the semi-circle formed in the old schoolhouse 
and composed of two or three scores of boys and girls. At 
the head, seated close together, were the older boys and 
girls who had reached the age when they were intensely 
interesting to one another. Next in order, seated by them- 
selves, came the smaller girls who had not reached that 
period. Last of all came the forlorn little boys who did not 
think they ever would reach it. Those who occupied the 
extreme foot of this latter class may still recall the suffer- 



PARENTS AND THE SCHOOL 28 1 

ing caused by the .bashf ulness which characterized them at 
that time. Boys of this age and type need and should have 
all the sympathy which can come to them from all possible 
sources. Boys who are too old to be interesting to the old 
women of the community but who are not old enough to be 
interesting to the young girls are in a precarious condition. 

But to return to the game. The girl who sat at the head 
whispered into the ear of the boy next to her a long meaning- 
less sentence. This was done with such haste and in such 
an indistinct, incoherent manner, as to render it impossible 
to understand what was thus whispered. The boy in turn 
told what he pretended to hear to his neighbor, always 
adding a little on his own account to the strange medley 
of words rapidly passing along the line. Finally the last 
boy was reached. Silence then reigned for a brief space 
of time as all eyes and ears were turned, first to the girl 
at the head as she slowly repeated the statement with which 
the message began, and then to the boy at the foot as he 
in turn related what had reached him at the other end of the 
line. After the shouts of laughter which followed had 
died away the game was repeated, the fun growing with 
each round. The laughter was due, of course, to the fact 
that there was never any resemblance between the state- 
ment with which the girl at the head started the game 
and the final report of the boy at the foot. 

This game was called " Gossip." Few, if any of the boys 
and girls who played the game knew what the word meant. 
All of them who have since taught school have learned its 
meaning by experiencing the harmful results which have 
come from the gossip of the communities in which they 
have taught. Unfortunately all communities have homes 



282 COOPERATION 

in which idle rumor, no matter how unreasonable, is certain 
to find sympathetic listeners, and the tongue of gossip, no 
matter how ridiculous its story, is certain to be given an 
attentive hearing. Earnest teachers are often greatly 
embarrassed in their work because some parents, and some- 
times members of the board of education, persist in listening 
to idle tales which are put into circulation by troublesome 
children and then passed around in the community by 
gossiping adults. 

How a better feeling between school and home may be 
maintained. — How often the little misunderstandings 
which arise between parents and teachers would vanish if 
parents would decline to hsten to the idle rumors which so 
often abound in the community. If, instead of gossiping 
about teachers, parents would visit the schools to get 
acquainted with them or invite them to their homes in 
order that they might learn to know them intimately, both 
schools and homes would be greatly benefited. In the 
majority of instances, parents who really know what is 
going on in the schools which their children attend are 
ready to cooperate with the teachers in their work. Every 
community has its citizens who assume to know what is 
going on in schools, which they never visit, and who out of 
the fullness of their ignorance are always ready to advise 
teachers what to do and how to do it. Teachers should 
always seek an intimate acquaintance with the home life of 
their pupils. Parents should learn all that can be known 
about the work of the school. As the result of such 
acquaintance and knowledge, there will grow up between 
the school and the home that sympathetic relation without 
which real cooperation is impossible. 



PARENTS AND THE SCHOOL 283 

When parents .sustain teachers in the discipline of the 
school ; when they support them in the enforcement of all 
reasonable regulations and requirements which have for 
their object the development of studious habits together 
with an appreciation of the necessity of hard work ; when 
they refuse to listen to school gossip and decline to pass 
judgment upon the work of the schools and teachers with- 
out any knowledge of either, teaching will be relieved of 
much that is discouraging and teachers will be enabled to 
devote all their time and energy to the welfare of their 
pupils. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS A Hl^ 



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